Diamond Rain
by iLoVeCaRDcApToRsAkuRa
Summary: Four years ago, Syaoran and Sakura left each other on their wedding day. Now, in competition for a contract, Sakura is pitted against Syaoran. Sabotage is just the beginning in their outrageous attempts to outdo each other and deny any lingering feelings.
1. There He Is

This is another story that I have adopted. The original was by KaNa16, but after a while she decided she no longer wanted to continue it and put it up for taking. So i took it!

She wrote chapters 1-10, but i have updated the grammar and made some minor alterations to make it my own. I hope you will all like it and support me as i try to continue a fantastic idea. Thanks.

Rated M for language and adult themes.

Disclaimer: I dont own CCS or its characters. Nor do i own the ideas behind the storys begining.

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**Chapter 1:**_There He Is..._

There were worse things in the world than being stared at by Li Syaoran, Sakura was sure of it...pity she couldn't think of any one of them. All the world's plagues were no match at all for the burning amber gaze of the man that lounged at the far end of Fujitaka-san's ballroom. A champagne glass in one well-shaped hand, Syaoran kept up an easy conversation with two girls who had clearly fallen under his spell.

But he never took his eyes off Sakura. Damn him!

She returned Syaoran look for look, her own emerald gaze colliding with his chocolate brown. Let him stare. And remember. Let him take a good, close look and see that the girl he'd last laid eyes on four years ago had grown into a woman. One who, if Sakura did say so herself, was poised, polished, and wise enough to refuse to let such a simple thing as a man's blatant scrutiny bring a blush to her cheeks or a flutter to her stomach.

Nonchalantly, she touched one hand across the flounce of the silk of her ivory gown and decided to fight fire with fire. Sakura raised her chin a fraction of an inch and assessed Syaoran as openly as he was examining her.

He had changed very little in the year's he's been away, though he did look taller than she remembered. There was a glint of gold in his honey-coloured hair and a bronze cast to his skin that might have been appealing had he been any other man. But other than that, he was the same Li Syaoran, with the same devilishly handsome face and, if the smitten expressions of the young ladies he was talking to meant anything, the same devastating charm.

It was a dangerous combination—Sakura knew that all too well—that could mysteriously transform even the most level-headed woman into a week-kneed school girl.

She watched Syaoran sip his champagne. His eyes left hers only long enough to make his new admirers think he was actually listening to their conversation. Just as quickly, he slid his gaze back to Sakura. And though no smile came to his lips, she swore that his eyes were glittering with amusement. Or it might have been all that alcohol he was consuming or something else. The look he gave her, it was a look that communicated even across a crowded room, and suggested an invitation so bold, it could make a woman's stomach flutter and her cheeks grow hot.

Not, Sakura told herself, that she cared.

She snapped open her silver and ivory fan and waved it in front of her burning face, feeling the press of the crowd and wondering how a room that had been so comfortable only a minute ago could suddenly feel so stuffy and hot.

"What the hell is _he_ doing here?" she snarled from between clenched teeth.

"What did you say?" At Sakura's side, Hiragizawa Tomoyo raised an eyebrow and gave her a quizzical look. "You're mumbling to yourself, Sakura, what's wrong with yo-".

Her eyes caught the scene going on across the room. Tomoyo pulled in a breath and leaned nearer. Her voice dropped to a secretive whisper.

"Li Syaoran! I heard he was back. And thought I know there is no love lost between you, I have to say, unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, he is more handsome that ever."

"Really?" Sakura flicked an imaginary speck of lint from her dress. "I hadn't noticed."

"Well, you should pay more attention." When Tomoyo realized that Syaoran was looking their way, she smiled back. "Oh my goodness, those shoulders! And those eyes! If I wasn't a married woman..."

Sakura snorted. It was very unladylike of her but at that moment, she hardly cared. "Go right ahead," she said and try as she might, she couldn't keep the acid taste from her words. "I hardly think as matter as insignificant as your marital status will make one bit of difference to Li Syaoran. He's a player you know." As if Sakura had just insulted one of her beloved children, Tomoyo's amethyst eyes widened. "No way, that's not what I've heard at all."

"Seriously Tomoyo!" With a shake of her shoulders, Sakura cast away the unnerving spell of Syaoran's gaze. Enough of this weird, slightly drunken sensation that filled her head for some reason she couldn't explain. She turned and set her untouched champagne on the nearest table. There was no way she could ever put enough distance between Syaoran and herself, but at least she could try. She headed towards the French doors that led into the gardens, and when Tomoyo fell into step beside her, she glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye. "You know, I don't think Eriol will like hearing his own wife talking about another man when they've been only married for a month. I thought you loved Eriol."

Tomoyo laughed and wound one arm through Sakura's. "Of course I love him. You know that I'm head over heels in love with Eriol. As madly in love you are with Eriol's cousin, Rui. You don't think I'd really-"

At the sound of Syaoran's familiar laughter rumbling through the room, she looked over her shoulder. "Well," she admitted with a sigh, "I might be tempted. What woman in her right mind wouldn't be?"

"What woman in her right mind _would_ be?" Sakura untangled her arm from Tomoyo and stepped over the threshold and out into the terrace. It was nearly dark and far cooler than it had been under the heat of Syaoran's gaze. Sakura pulled in a breath of air and leaned against the marble railings, her back to the gardens. A lot of people were coming into the gardens and the ballroom doors were left open. From where Sakura stood, she had a perfect view of the room.

She saw two older women cross the room towards Syaoran to retrieve their daughters. To his credit, Syaoran exchanged appropriate pleasantries, and to Sakura's unending wonder, by the time the mothers left with their daughters in tow, all four females were giggling like schoolgirls. Even before they withdrew, Syaoran was joined by two men, and Sakura couldn't have said which of the two surprised her more.

"Touya?" Amazed, she watched the scene unfold before her. "Touya, my own brother. Talking to that...that..." Tomoyo laid a restraining hand on her arm. "Now, now, it's nothing to get upset about. They're probably just old friends and—"

"Friends? Syaoran?" Sakura pulled at her beautiful curled hair that hung over her shoulder while she watched her brother act the traitor. "The two words can hardly be spoken in the same breath. Syaoran doesn't have any friends. Only worshipers"

"Fujitaka-san seems friendly enough" Sakura tossed her hair over her shoulder.

Tomoyo was right, as usual. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Syaoran and Fujitaka-san were old friends. The put their heads together and when Syaoran spoke, Fujitaka-san nodded knowingly.

Fujitaka-san was one of the few people in this aristocratically selfish society that actually liked giving back to others more than taking. He had even served the Queen of Japan, Yelen-sama long before Sakura was born. With his brown hair that was sprinkled with a bit of gray and his gentle and kind face, he reminded Sakura of a beloved uncle and that's exactly what she thought of him. Fujitaka-san had been a close friend of the family for as long as she could remember and ever time he'd visit, he'd always bring presents for her and Touya, even now.

She watched as Touya walked off and left Syaoran with Fujitaka-san. Sakura shook her head. "I really don't get why Syaoran is here. This is supposed to be a reception for people involved in the planning of the Queen's anniversary party."

Suddenly, there seemed nothing in the world as important to Tomoyo as the roses growing near where they were standing. She gazed at them intently, her hands clutched at her waist. "You mean, you don't know?"

There was something in Tomoyo's voice she didn't like. She swung her gaze from Syaoran to her best friend. "Know what? It can't possibly have anything to do with the party, or the meeting that I have tomorrow with Fujitaka-san and the committee planning the ceremony. I know that for a fact. I mean, can you even imagine Li Industry doing the fireworks?" she gave a cynical laugh and rolled her eyes. "Syaoran can't possibly think that he has a chance to—"As if it had been shoved of its course, the train of Sakura's thoughts broke into two.

Tomoyo was quite. Too quite.

"He's hoping to get the contract for the anniversary fireworks?" Sakura listened to her own question echo back at her, her voice sharp with astonishment, her words honed with the edge of impossibility. Syaoran and Fujitaka-san shared a laugh, and Sakura twirled away from the scene. "No way!" she slapped her hands against the cool marble railing. "No fucking way! He doesn't have a chance in hell!"

"Don't curse out loud!" Tomoyo made appropriate tsk-tsk sound of disapproval and offered a glace of apology to the people around them who had overheard. Sakura didn't care. Let Tomoyo apologize for her. As far as she was concerned, the only thing she had to apologize for was forgetting to add that she was sure that the hottest fires in hell had been marked especially for that bastard. And that she would like nothing better that to see him roasting over them for all eternity. For now, there were more important things to worry about than apologies, and Sakura focused on them. She fastened her gaze on Tomoyo and refused to back down. Not until she got some answers. "Eriol is on the anniversary committee," Sakura said. "What do you know?"

Thought Tomoyo tried her best, she was a poor actress. And an even poorer liar. Her laughter rippled the night air. "I don't know anything, honestly! You know how men are. They never share any information with their wives that's really useful. They say it's none of our business and that we shouldn't fill our pretty heads with—" Tomoyo was less than convincing, and if she didn't know it, one look at the expression on Sakura's face must have told her as much.

Her laughter died. Her smile vanished. Her shoulders sagged.

"He's been invited to the meeting" Tomoyo said. "Syaoran?" Sakura could hardly believe her ears. "How? Why? He should know he'll never get the contract. Kinomoto Corporation is the oldest fireworks establishment in this country! And the most distinguished! He can't possibly think that he can compete against us with those pathetic light shows he tries to pass off as fireworks! That crazy _bastard_! Of all the arrogant, vain, disdainful-"

"Sakura!" she hadn't even realized she'd started back towards the ballroom until Tomoyo grabbed her arm to hold her in place. "You can't march in there and take the man's head off." "Watch me!" Sakura shook herself out of Tomoyo's grip. She might have continued on straight into the ballroom if common sense, pride and dignity were not as much a part of her personality as was her hatred of Li Syaoran. She reminded herself that those light shows of Li Industry were legendary. He was known for his fireworks display just as Kinomoto Corporation was.

Kinomoto Corporation shows were beautiful and elegant. Well considered and perfectly executed. Flawless. Artistic. Refined.

Li Industry shows were, according to Sakura, was just like Syaoran. They were garish, too loud and too flamboyant, and all together too melodramatic. But people like it and Sakura didn't know why.

"There's no way Fujitaka-san will let Li Industry near the celebration" Sakura said, but whether she was trying to convince Tomoyo or herself, she want sure. Holding on to that thought, she pulled herself to her full height, lifted her chin, and walked back into the ballroom. By the time she had drank another two glasses of champagne and danced around the ballroom, Sakura didn't feel better at all.

So Syaoran would be at the committee meeting in the morning. She let her gaze glide to here he stood and was relieved to see that he wasn't paying the least bit of attention to her. He was deep in conversation with the men that had gathered around him. But not too deep because when a beautiful dark-haired women sauntered past, Syaoran laid one hand on her arm and whispered in her ear. The woman blushed to the roots of her hair and didn't resist Syaoran's infamous allure. She smiled as if she knew a rather delicious secret, and before she walked away, Sakura swore she saw the woman wink at Syaoran.

Not that she cared. Obviously.

With one final glare at Syaoran, she left the ballroom. She could handle whatever feeble attempts Syaoran might make at winning the contract for the anniversary fireworks, she assured herself, just as she could handle Syaoran himself. Still, his presence at tomorrow's meeting was bound to be tense. After all, it was sure to be awkward coming face to face with a man she hadn't spoken to in four years.

Especially when four years ago, Syaoran had abandoned her on the altar on the day of their wedding.

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Ok, so that was it. Chapter 1.

What did you think? This story got alot of reviews originally so id really appriciate your thoughts now.

Im going to release each chapter once a week, to see what you all think and give me time to make sure im 100% happy with it.

Thanks for all your support

Love ya xx


	2. There She Is

Im glad to say Chapter 2 is up! I cant believe the level of interest for this story is so high. Im gload though, so thanks!

Please enjoy xx

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**Chapter 2**_  
There She Is..._

Li Syaoran raised his eyes and looked over the heads of the men gathered around him to find Sakura, and was crestfallen to realize she was no longer standing where he'd last seen her. He searched the room, but there was no sign of her, so he lowered his glass and frowned.

"Go ahead, Li. what were you going to say?" someone in the small assembly offered encouragement to finish the sentence the Syaoran had on his lips only but a moment ago. The request was echoed by others in the crowd. Reminded of the occasion and the company, Syaoran shook off his momentary, inexplicable disappointment and grinned. "Sorry! I forgot what I was going to say." There were groans all around, but fortunately, it was late enough in the evening and the champagne was flowing freely. No one really cared; no one would really remember. So when a very drunk Takahashi started making a scene, Syaoran's companions were more than happy to turn to him.

"Looking for someone?" Ashikaga Akito moved closer to Syaoran's side, and when a roar went up in response to whatever Takahashi had the nerve to say in public, Akito tugged Syaoran farther from the crowd. "Your eyes keep wandering..." he scanned the crown himself, and smiled over his champagne glass at a young lady who was all too eager to smile back."You wouldn't be looking for Kinomoto-san, would you?"

Syaoran grumbled an oath. "You know, I almost got bitten by a poisonous snake once." he said. "But I swear that snake had a friendlier look than Sakura when I saw her a while ago. Snakes are nothing compare to that one." Akito laughed. "You don't blame her, do you?"

"Blame her?" Blame was not the subject Syaoran liked to consider. Not when it came to his past, his business, or his women. He dismissed Akito's question with a lift of his shoulder and headed towards the refreshments to find a maid who might refill his glass.

Akito was not the kind of man who gave up easily. It was one of the few characteristics they shared. Akito was a political man, one who seemed always to be in some crusade or other. He was the kind of people that Syaoran found boring and tiresome, and he was like every other man in this room had it not been for his refined taste in wine and exquisite food.

Now he followed along. "You didn't expect her to welcome you back with open arms, did you?" Akito asked. Syaoran didn't need to ask who he was talking about, but still, the fates and his own bad luck seemed to conspire against him and offer him a reminder. No sooner had they stepped over to the refreshments than he saw Sakura over at the buffet line. She was talking to a handsome dark-haired guy Syaoran recognized as Eriol's cousin, Hiragizawa Rui, who was fawning over Sakura, and from the love-smitten look on his face, he was enjoying every minute of it.

He helped her decide which dished she wanted to sample from the buffet. He carried her plate. He found her a seat. Surpassing the duties of the maid who stood nearby, ready to help, he pulled a chair away from the table, and once Sakura was settled, he sat across from her. It was flagrant display of infatuation as Syaoran had ever seen, and enough to make his queasy.

Not that he cared.

Sakura caught sight of him the moment she sat down, and the carefree smile on her face vanished. She grabbed her knife and fork, and shot him a look that was as intense as those she'd given him in the ballroom.

"Maybe I'm being too nice." Syaoran spoke to Akito with not the least concern that his voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the crowed room. "Not a snake. Maybe like a modern day Medusa. You know that lady with snakes where her hair should have been." He wiggled his fingers above his own hair while he headed in the direction of the buffet, but he never took his eyes off Sakura. "Any man foolish enough to dare to look at her turned instantly to stone." A gentle poke in the ribs reminded Syaoran that Akito was far more shy that him and was not about to openly offend Fujitaka-san's guest. "How about you save that for when we aren't in such company."

"Sure" Syaoran dismissed the subject with a tight smile and nodded to the maid who filled his plate, and when it was full, he looked around for a place to sit. He found a perfect spot, right in front Sakura's table. He sensed that Akito might have objected, but by the time Akito realized where they were headed, it was too late.

Syaoran nodded a brief acknowledgment to Hiragizawa Rui. He ignored Sakura completely. With a dubious looks at Syaoran, at the table he's selected, at the chair he sat at (which conveniently faced Sakura), and the company nearby, Akito dropped into the chair into his. Fitfully, he arranged and rearranged his cutlery. He glanced from Syaoran to Sakura and back again. He ran a finger over his hair. He strongly reminded Syaoran of a condemned man standing before a firing squad, waiting to be shot.

Syaoran waited for it, too, every sense on the alert, every muscle tensed. At the same time, he wondered which of them would be the one to breach the fragile truce; he was reminded that if four years had taught him nothing else, they had taught him that Sakura's was a face he couldn't easily forget—no matter how hard he tried. He was surprised and more than a little dismayed to see that his memories, persistent though they were, did not accurately match reality. This close he realized just how much Sakura had really changed.

The features were the same: the same delicate cheekbones, the same eyes, as hard and green as emeralds. But four years had refined Sakura's face and form. Enhanced them. Perfected them. The lips that had once been merely luscious were now generous as well. The eyes that had once seemed so innocent flickered with the shimmer of sophistication. Her hair was the same auburn colour, lighter that his, and luxuriant enough so that part of it was pulled back from her face and piled atop her head and the rest was left to cascade over one shoulder in ringlets. Her body...

Syaoran dared to drop his gaze from hers long enough to take a better look. Sakura was no taller than she'd ever been; he could tell that much even though she was seated. She was no rounder either, except for certain portions of her anatomy that were, as fashion (and Tomoyo) dictated, emphasized to attract a man's attention. Her gown was off her shoulder and cut low over her breasts. Rather than make her look pale, the pearly gown enhanced her fairness and made her shine. It flowed like liquid silk from her body, emphasizing her shape just enough to hint at the fact that there is a treasure underneath that fabric. Treasure that might be revealed...at the right time...to the right man...

No! "I don't even care" Syaoran reminded himself, rather forcefully.

"Well..." desperate to fill the clumsy silence, Akito dug into his food."Here's something about Japan you must have missed on your travels abroad. The food is excellent here."

"Not really." Hoping to lull Sakura into a false sense of security, Syaoran toyed with the chicken on his plate that he had no intention of eating. "I have to admit," he looked over his plate, over Akito shoulder and straight into Sakura's daunting eyes. "There's nothing about Japan I missed. Nothing and _no one_."

Colour flooded Sakura cheek and her jaw tightened. She snapped her gaze from Syaoran's and concentrated instead on her plate. It was a victory of sorts, even though it was a small one, and it gave Syaoran pleasure and a surge of satisfaction the likes of which he hadn't felt since he'd persuaded Fujitaka-san into letting him attend the next day's meeting of the anniversary party committee. Overjoyed by his achievement, encourage by the small signs that he might yet get a rise out of the frosty Miss Kinomoto, and no doubt spurred on by the volume of the champagne he'd already consumed, he decided to try again.

"Nope. I didn't miss a soul, and I'll tell you why." Syaoran leaned back, his arms crossed over his chest. "When someone travels the world, they're bound to meet your average thief and robber, but all in all, I find that people everywhere else are generally honest, especially in Italy. They were always so eager to please. But here in Japan..." He let go an exaggerated sigh. "I'm sorry to say, Akito, but my experiences show me that this country is filled with deception. And not just the here are bold enough to tell a man she loves him when all she's interested in is this money and the size of his-"

Before Syaoran could say another word, Sakura's cutlery rattled. Her china dish clattered. She bounded from her chair. The action was as involuntary as the blush that betrayed her, and she was obviously as surprised by it as were the people around her. She stood still as stone, her breath coming and going rapidly, her hands flat against the table, her eyes fiery.

"Finished so soon?" Whether he knew it or not, it was Hiragizawa Rui who saved the scene from escalating into a heated fight. He touched his napkin to his mouth and pushed away his half-eaten meal. He rose from his chair and stood back to let Sakura by him and on toward the door, and it was only then that Hiragizawa noticed the men at the neighbouring table.

"Akito!" Rui moved forward, his hand extended. "Good to see you again!" He shook Akito hand and nodded towards Syaoran "I'm Hiragizawa Rui, Akito and I went to college together. And you are...?"

Because Syaoran had no choice, he rose. He introduced himself, watching for the shudder of recognition that was sure to come when Rui heard his name. But it seemed that his manners were as impeccable as his looks. He smiled politely and offered his hand. "And this..." Rui reached around and gently pulled Sakura to his side. "This is Kinomoto Sakura." He pivoted his gaze from Akito to Syaoran. "But I think you've met before"

"Did we?" Syaoran paused long enough to make his point. "Oh yes, Kinomoto-san." he offered his hand and was surprised at how cool Sakura's felt. "Our families are in the same business." He said turning to Rui. "Fireworks. I think Kinomoto-san and I have that in common."

Sakura extracted her hand from Syaoran's and pulled it to her side. "Only to a point." She said, "I'm afraid Li-san's idea of a fireworks display is not necessarily as same as mine." Poor Rui looked genuinely confused. "Fireworks? I knew about that, of course, but I thought...well...err...w-weren't you two once..." he never realized what he was into until he was well into it. The man's face filled with embarrassment and he tripped over his words. "Wasn't there some sort of…kind of a...relationship?"

"Oh, that was ages ago!" Syaoran's hearty reply cut Rui off before he could get himself deeper into his embarrassment and well before Sakura could get a word in. "And I'd hardly use the term _relationship_, right, Kinomoto-san?" He paused and watched with a sense of satisfaction as anger flushed thought Sakura's cheeks. "Let me see... how can I explain? I know! It's like a firework we call the maroons that we send up at the beginning of every show to tell people that the show's starting. Lots of noise and no colour. I think Kinomoto-san would agree. Our _relationship_ was like the maroons." He fastened his gaze to Sakura's. "A lot of noise and no colour at all."

Syaoran had to give Sakura credit. Most of the women he knew would have been at him with claws extended. Not Sakura. She smiled a perfectly icy smile and laughed a laugh that could only be described as silvery. "Maybe Li-san here is not remembering correctly," She said, "or thinking of someone else. Honestly, even thought our families are in the same business, we hardly know each other. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure if we've been introduced properly before today, have we?"

Sakura slowly looked him up and down and back up again. She sighed, "I'm sorry to say, Li-san, and I'm sorry to be rude, especially with a stranger, but you're hardly extraordinary. I really can't remember if we've ever met." "Now that I think about it, neither can I." Syaoran stepped aside to allow her by. "One little brunette woman is so much like any other. Maybe we'll have a chance to meet again in the future."

"If we're lucky." Sakura purred

"If we're lucky." Syaoran agreed.

He waited until Rui and Sakura were half way across the room before he added, "And by the way, Kinomoto-san..." She stopped and turned to him, and Syaoran had the small satisfaction of seeing her hands were clenched at her sides.

"Fortune," he said. "I was going to say 'fortune'. That some women are interested simply in the amount of a man's money and the size of his 'fortune'." She knew what he meant but she fought off the blush that surely would have appeared. Instead she smiled a cold, brittle smile. "Of course. I thought so all along. I can't imagine that any true gentleman would dream of saying anything else." She turned away from him.

"Although..." Sakura turned around and looked Syaoran up and down, her gaze skimming its way over his shoulder, across his chest, to his stomach and lower still to rest on his 'fortune' in a familiar sort of way that in the bedroom might have excited him; in the ballroom of Fujitaka-san's elegant town house, and with an audience of bored aristocrats just waiting for the next delicious scandal they might chew on, it made him dammed uncomfortable.

"It's little known to men but quite a true fact," she said, "that it doesn't matter how big his fortune is, it's the size of his other attributes that really matters most to women. And usually, the man with the biggest fortune and the largest ego is the one who is trying in some desperate way to make up for his obvious inadequacies in other areas." And with that, she left the room.

Syaoran watched her go. "A scowl that could stop a raging storm itself and a temper to match."

"And the face of an angel." Akito added. "It ought to be an interesting meeting in the morning." Syaoran was about to sit down and start in on his dinner, but Akito's comment brought him up short. "What are you talking about?" Akito slapped him on the back. "Don't you know? She's the power behind Kinomoto Corporation these days."

"Sakura?" Syaoran stared at the now empty doorway. "You don't mean that she's-" "In charge. I'm afraid so. Not officially, of course. Officially, the company's being run by that no good brother of hers. But he's more interested in chasing after women than running a business and everyone knows it. The company is his by all rights, but he leaves the day-to-day operations to Sakura."

"That means she'll be at the meeting in the morning." It was a sobering thought as all the Champaign from Syaoran's head cleared. He'd thought he'd see Sakura around maybe in a few days, not in a few hours. He left behind his dinner and headed towards the card room, where there was sure to be a game. Before he went inside the card room, he looked back over his shoulder towards the ballroom and saw Sakura waltz by in the arm of Rui.

"You know, they say he's going to ask her to marry him." Akito told him. Hearing this, Syaoran cussed rather loudly.

Not that he cared. Obviously.

But the fact that Sakura was managing Kinomoto Corporation and that she was nearly engaged to another man could make for some sticky situations in tomorrow's meeting. After all, it was bad enough running into the woman you'd been engaged to yourself four years earlier.

It was even worse when he thought about the fact that four years ago, Sakura had left him waiting at the altar on their wedding day.

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Please review, its a major help to me! xx

Thanks :D


	3. Four Years Ago

SO here is the next chapter on this story. Im so greatful to all of you that reviewed or even simply read the story. Its so nice to know i have lots of support so thanks!

Please enjoy

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**Chapter 3**_  
Four years ago_

"His money and the size of his...gah!"

Sakura grumbled the words and punctuated them with a contemptuous snort. It was a sound she had made all too often in the twelve hours since she'd encountered Syaoran at Fujitaka-san's ballroom, and, not for the first time, she reminded herself that it was unladylike and unbecoming. She didn't need to remind herself that she didn't give a damn.

"Despicable, detestable jerk! The size of his thing. As if I'd be interested in the size of anything of his!" she tossed her purse on her desk and, pulling off her jacket, dropped them down beside it. She was thankful it was early and she was the only one in the office of Kinomoto Corporation. She didn't want the staff hearing her swearing, and she was very much afraid that even if they had been present, she would not have been able to restrain herself. The anger that had bubbled through her the night before and kept her from getting a wink of sleep still boiled in her blood.

And who could blame her? Seeing Syaoran after four years was bad enough. Learning that he thought he could compete against Kinomoto Corporation for the Queen's Jubilee Celebration Contract was even worse.

Muttering, Sakura headed in the direction of the huge iron safe that dominated one corner of the office, her footsteps pending in the soft white carpet. "If he thinks he'll catch me off my guard, he can think again." She knelt on the floor in front of the safe and grumbled under her breath while she twirled the lock. "Oh, no, not this time. He may think I'm an easy target, but he'll find how wrong he is. Just like he did last time. He may think he can flatter and charm his way back into my heart but-"

The sound of her own words brought Sakura up short. What Syaoran had done last time could hardly be classified as flattery. Charming her was the furthest thing from his mind.

The things he said...the looks he'd given her...

"Whatever." Sakura set her jaw and went to work on the safe. "Twenty four," she mumbled, repeating the combination aloud as she always did when she opened it. "He's wretched...thirty-nine...that's what he is. Too wretched for words. And if he did think I'd be swayed somehow by those lips or eyes-"

With a start, she realized she'd gone right past the last number in the combination. She cursed herself and her errant thoughts. "If he thinks he can come back after four years and..." Sakura spun the lock counter-clockwise and started again. "Well, he's wrong, that's for certain. Just because a girl is foolish enough to fall for him once...twenty-four...doesn't mean that she can't come to her senses. It doesn't mean she spends all her time thinking about the amount of his...thirty-nine...and the size of his—fucking lock won't open!"

"Sakura! Who are you talking to?"

Startled by the sound of a voice from the doorway, Sakura sucked in a sharp breath and sat back on her heels. "Touya!" She pressed one hand to her heart and fought to catch her breath. "What are you doing here this early?"

It seemed Touya was just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. For what seemed too long a moment, he stood frozen in the doorway. He was dressed in the same formal clothes he'd been wearing when Sakura saw him at Fujitaka-san's. But while last night he looked handsome, this morning he looked much worse for wear.

There were smudges of sleeplessness under Touya's eyes, and his hair was uncombed. It stood up as straight at the crown of his head and drooped into his eyes at the front. As if he could feel Sakura's appraisal, he made to sweep it back with the same hand in which her held a piece of paper. He looked from Sakura to the paper, then folded it and tucked it away into the breast pocket of this jacket.

"I might ask you the same thing," he said, strolling into the office. He leaned back on the desk, arms crossed over his chest. "Do you always show up this early so you can swear thought these paper-thin walls and hope no one will hear?"

As usual, Touya's easy manner brought a smile to Sakura's face. She offered him her hand, and when he'd helped her up to her feet, she brushed off her skirt and straightened her top. This close, he smelled of cigars and a good deal of liquor, but Sakura pretended not to notice. It was an issue they had discussed before, and it was not one she was willing to face this early in the morning and with so much on her mind.

"I stopped by to check on some business matters before my meeting with Fujitaka-san this morning." she explained. "And I wouldn't have been swearing at all if it hadn't been for that basta-"

She caught herself and cleared her throat. She couldn't deny that her language was inappropriate, but the last thing Touya needed to know was the real cause of her frustration. It was far more efficient to glower at the safe than it was to think about Syaoran, so that is exactly what she did.

"We really must have someone in to look at this lock," she said, "it's impossible to open."

Touya didn't reply. He was too busy straightening out his clothes and brushing of lint from his jacket. It shouldn't have surprised Sakura. For far too long, she'd known that Touya wasn't the least bit interested in the company. Account books. Those were more to Touya's interest. Not because they represented a simple way to track both the company's successes and failures, but because they gave him an idea of how much money he had left to waste.

The thought settled in Sakura's stomach at the same time she remembered the bit of paper she'd seen Touya slip into his pocket. "Touya..." her voice trailed away on the end of a sigh, right along with the momentary hope that this time things might me different."You've written yourself another check, haven't you? That's why you're here before anyone else arrived. You've-"

She was interrupted by Touya's good natured laugh. He swept one hand thought his hair. "Sakura, listen to you" he shook his head. "Whatever are we to do with you? You sound just like Dad" It was an evasive enough comment but Sakura ignored it. "Of course I sound just like Daddy," she told him, her words tight in her throat. "I'm as concerned about the business, just like he was. Maybe even more, because Daddy never knew that you are spending our money nearly as fast as we were making it. It would have worried him to death to know that you-"

"The man is already dead. What difference does it make?" the smile never faded from Touya's face, but his tone of voice warned her he wanted nothing more than to put an end to the conversation. It didn't matter. He was treading on thin ice, whether he knew it or not. He was threatening the very survival of Kinomoto Corporation. The one passion she had left.

"For all his faults, you can't deny that Daddy loved this company. It was his fathers. And his father's before that. If Daddy ever really knew how bad our debts were..." The very thought was painful, and Sakura shook it away. "It was a good thing he wasn't able to attend to business as much as he liked in the months before he died. It made it easier for me to make sure he never really knew that you were-"

"That's enough!" Touya's face hardened into an expression Sakura had seen before. It was the same stony look he gave her each time she brought up his intemperate spending habits. The same on he used when she dared mention he was drinking far more than was wise, just as her father had done in the months before he died.

"Why shouldn't I spend the money?" Touya asked. "It was Dad's Company, just like you said. Now it's mine. I'm the eldest. I'm the son. I can do whatever I like. I'm not accountable to anyone."

As if the thought was too ridiculous to even consider, he whirled away from her and went to stand behind the desk. "Epically a sister who had her chance to save the company four years ago and decided that she'd rather keep her precious Kinomoto pride than marry Li Syaoran's money"

It was an insensitive remark, even for Touya, and for a full minute Sakura couldn't bring herself to respond to it. She clutched her hands at her waste and swallowed the impulse to try and reason. Or explain. There were no words that might explain to Touya what Sakura couldn't even begin to explain to herself.

"Yes, of course. You can do whatever you like." With a cough she cleared the tightness from her throat. Sakura willed the tears to come. It was only one way to appeal to Touya. Sakura knew that well enough. She didn't feel the least bit guilty about using it.

"I'm just reminding you that I'm trying as hard as I can to keep what our family has worked so hard and so long to build." she told him. "I'm not complaining, Touya. You know I'm not. You know there is nothing in the world that I'd rather be doing than this. But one of us has to be hard headed, and it looks as if the job has fallen to me. If you keep spending our profits, sooner or later, there won't be any money left to support this lifestyle that you love so much"

Touya hung his head. "Consider me duly reminded." He turned back to her, but refused to meet her eyes. "Sorry." he said, as she knew he meant it. Touya was always sorry for the things he did. Pity it never stopped him from doing it again. "It was kind of cold-hearted of me to remind you of everything that happened four years ago. I saw Li yesterday. Maybe that's why his name just popped into my mind." He gave her a sheepish grin. "I don't suppose you'd reconsider and-"

"No! I won't marry him!"

It was a ridiculous statement and it dissolved Sakura's anger, just as Touya intended. She laughed. "The biggest fortune in the world couldn't change my mind. That guy is a jerk. He proved that well enough, didn't he?" Touya didn't agree or disagree, and Sakura didn't care. She didn't need Touya to tell her she was right. And he apparently didn't need to take the chance that she might actually challenge him on the subject.

"I'll be on my way and leave you to your work." Touya headed for the door. "And Sakura..." he stopped in the doorway and patted his pocket, "don't worry about the money. My luck's changing. Soon enough, I promise you, you'll never have to worry about money again."

He took one step into the hallway, stopped, and threw a mischievous look over his shoulder at her. "Now the only thing you need to worry about," he said, "is the fact that Li is back in Japan."

No sooner was Touya gone that Sakura knelt again on the floor and got back to work on the safe. This time she concentrated on the job at hand, and before she knew it, the heavy door opened with a satisfying thump. She reached inside and pulled out a sheet of paper covered with Sakura's neat handwriting.

"_Diamond Rain_" Sakura whispered as she read over the paper to herself and nodded, impressed as she always was both by its simplicity and its pure brilliance.

Satisfied, Sakura creased the paper in half, and then folded it again. She had brought a small pink silk pouch with her from home, one that had been given to her years before when her father presented her with jewellery, and she pulled it out of her handbag and set the paper into it. Unbuttoning her white linen blouse, she slipped the pouch down into the side of her bra, directly above her heart.

"Syaoran's back in town," she said to herself while she rebut toned her blouse and gathered her jacket and her handbag. "And that," she said, placing one hand where the pouch lay against her heart, "is exactly what I'm worried about."

Touching one hand briefly to the front of her linen blouse, Sakura stood back so that Fujitaka-san's maid might open the door to his meeting room for her. Though she was early, she hoped that at least some of the members of the Jubilee committee might already have gathered. She wanted some time to talk to them. She knew that she was very good with people and she intended to use it to her benefit.

Kinomoto Corporation customers valued her and her ability to explain the fireworks business to them simply and efficiently. They were sometimes surprised that a woman knew so much about explosives, but they were, on the whole, polite enough not to point it out and interested enough in what she had to say to take her seriously.

The whole committee was made up of men, and she wasn't sure if they would take her seriously enough if Syaoran was there. Sakura had to work hard on this one to beat any chance Syaoran had to come out ahead and get a contract with the Jubilee committee. Eager to get to it, Sakura prepared her best smile and her brightest greeting.

The door opened and her smile faded. The greeting strangled in her throat.

Li Syaoran was the only person in the room.

It was a small comfort to realize he wasn't any happier to see her than she was to see him. He stood against the windows that filled the far wall of the room, his face shadowed with the light at his back. Not that it mattered. There was no mistaking the confident tilt of his head. There was no mistaking the fact that the instant he saw her, he tensed, and the smile that had brightened his expression in the moment the door opened disappeared completely.

He was wearing one of his new, stylish suits that Sakura read about in the Paris Fashion magazines, a hand tailored black jacket and matching trousers that were creased up the front. His jacket was not buttoned up the front, just like she'd seen in the magazine, but worn open to best show his soft white shirt.

For the space of a dozen heartbeats, they stared at each other across the vast expanse of a massive mahogany table, Syaoran's annoyed expression an exact mirror of Sakura's own. As if she could feel the chill that suddenly hung in the air, the maid who'd shown Sakura to the meeting room departed as swiftly as she could. The door closed behind her with a soft, rather sinister click of finality.

The silence seemed even more terrible once the maid was gone. Because Sakura didn't know what else to do, she nodded a curt hello and walked to the table. She set her handbag and drew off her jacket. She didn't wait for Syaoran to pull out a chair for her. In fact, she hurried to do it herself before he could get it into his head to play the gentleman and get so close as to assist her.

She needn't have worried.

Syaoran stayed precisely where he was, his eyes following her every movement, and it was only after Sakura was seated that he pushed away from the windows and strolled towards the head of the table. "You aren't surprised to see me?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Should I be?" she asked. "I thought we had agreed last night, we are perfect strangers. I can't imagine why I should be surprised to find a stranger in such a public place." It was as good a hit as she was likely to get in so early in the game, and Sakura congratulated herself for it. It was especially gratifying to see that Syaoran recognized it for the small victory it was. He winced, a reaction he covered instantly and neatly with an insolent smile.

"Touché, Kinomoto-san" he nodded acknowledging her triumph. "You heard, of course, that's why you weren't surprised. You knew I'd be here."

"Of course I knew." Sakura met his gaze with as matter-of-fact an expression as she could muster. "I may once have been naive in this business, been naive enough to trust that others were as honest as I am..." with a graceful lift of her shoulders, she dismissed whatever else she might have said because it was, quite simply, not worth mentioning.

"I know my business," she said. "And part of it is knowing my competition, if I may use so imaginative a word to describe Li Industry." Sakura sat back and forced herself to give Syaoran the kind of look she'd seen him use so efficiently so many times. Sublimely unconcerned. Supremely confident.

"I hate to sound presumptuous Syaoran, but you don't really think that you-"

"Have a chance at this contract?" As if actually thinking about it, Syaoran pursed his lips and tilted his head. "Well, yeah." he said finally. "I think I do. After all, the committee is interested in a fireworks show worthy of the occasion. One of epic proportions. One that has more style than your dull shows." he gave her a meaningful look, spurred on by the anger Sakura could feel heating her face. "It seems Li Industry is the best choice. It's the only choice."

"_Dull_?" Sakura could no more keep to her seat than she could cover the exasperation from her voice. She knew it was a mistake the moment she was on her feet, and if she didn't, she need only take a look at the satisfied expression on Syaoran's face. He had tricked her into an outburst. She swore to herself it wouldn't happen again. Swallowing her anger, she turned away from the table and paced the length of the room.

"So, you think my work is dull and unoriginal?" When she got to the head of the table, she stopped and faced Syaoran. "I'm surprised to hear it. You didn't think so four years ago. As a matter of fact, you really admired the new firework I'd developed. You remember, the shimmering green firework I called _Emerald Mist_. It was quit spectacular and quiet original. And the way I remember it, you were willing to do anything to get your hands on the formula. Even if it meant marrying me."

Much to Sakura's disappointment, Syaoran didn't rise to the bate. Instead, he clutched both hands to his heart. "The ultimate sacrifice!" like an actor up on a stage, he leaned heavily against table as if to swoon. "Some men were destined to suffer for their art. Fortunately, your brother saved me from suffering too much. He presented me with the formula as an early wedding gift, you remember, and thus rescued me from a fate worse than death."

Sakura threw him an acid look. "The way I remember it, you hardly suffered at all. As a matter of fact, you always looked quite happy to me."

"Did I?" As if the statement were a surprise to him, Syaoran stood up straight. "You must be thinking of someone else. Some other lovesick fool. I was never happy with you. Not for a moment. I wanted the Emerald Mist formula. There I admit it. But—" he held up one hand to stop her when he saw her retort coming. "You were just as guilty. You agreed to marry me because you wanted my money. You needed it to save your company."

It wasn't the first time he'd accused her of this sin. Sakura didn't need a reminder. The night before their scheduled wedding, he'd hurled the same accusation in her face. At that time she'd been too upset by his betrayal to explain to him or argue her case. Four years later, it hardly seemed to matter, especially when he was staring at her, his eyes shining with condemnation. As much she despised Li Syaoran, she found she could not disappoint him.

"Of course I wanted your money." Sakura surprised herself. She could sound as cold as he did melodramatic. She turned her back to him and strolled all the way to the other end of the table, trailing one finger over its perfectly polished surface as she went. When she got there, she tossed a casual look over her shoulder at him. "I know you're kind of slow, Li, but I didn't know you were stupid enough that you could possibly think there was any other reason I'd want to marry you."

Sakura knew it was a mistake the moment she'd said it. Even from across the room she could detect the hint of devilment that flickered in Syaoran's eyes in response to that remark. He looked her up and down; his gaze resting longer than necessary on her lips as he spoke his voice was deeper than it had been. More imitate. It was wrapped around her like the arms of a lover and caressed her and left her feeling slightly light-headed and far hotter than was natural in a room that was comfortable only a moment ago.

"You're wrong. I can imagine a lot of reasons you might have wanted to marry me." The smile in Syaoran's eyes travelled to his lips. "There was that night at your father's country estate. And that afternoon we spent in Tokyo. You remember Ying Fa?" His pet name for her rolled off his tongue. It was a name she had hopped never to hear again, especially from Syaoran's lips. Sakura braced herself against its unwelcome effects. Tiny tremors of anticipation sparkled through her body the way they always had when Syaoran whispered the name. It burned her skin and fizzled though her blood.

"We went to Tokyo to talk to the people at the company there about a fireworks show," Syaoran continued, "and instead of conducting business, we spent the entire afternoon—"

"Hardly a reason to marry a man." Though Sakura tried her best to keep her temper as well as her pride, the words jumped out of her before she could stop them. She drew in a deep, painful breath and willed herself to keep the mortification she felt from showing in her face or blossoming in her voice.

"I mean..." she said, "what I mean is...is that fortunately, I came to my senses,. I suppose that if nothing else, I owe you a thanks for showing to me that my instincts were, as usual, right. I suppose your true character was that of a low life who's only interested in getting ahead in life while trampling on others and you proved me right. Only a bastard would leave his bride waiting at the altar."

"Me? Kept _you_ waiting?" It was the first time Syaoran let down his guard and allowed his anger to surface. Sakura supposed she should have felt a certain satisfaction. She might have if not for the fact that she was just as angry. Through a red-hot haze, she watched Syaoran stalk the length of the table and position himself across from her. "The way I remember it, Kinomoto, you left _me_ waiting. You're the one who never arrived at the church."

"Me?" The single word chocked against the tight ball of outrage in Sakura's throat. She flattened her hands against the tabletop and leaned forward.

"You, Li, were the one who never arrived! And if you had—"

"If I had," Syaoran growled, leaning forward, "I wound have found that you weren't there."

"And if I had been there, I would have found that you never—"

"No, _you_ never—"

"It seems as if I have arrived just in time." As if they'd been snipped away in mid-sentence, Syaoran's words died and Sakura's anger dissolved into chagrin when Fujitaka-san came into the room. Like a general surveying battlefield casualties, he paused inside the door and shook his head. One look was enough to make both Syaoran and Sakura stand up straight and pull their hands to their sides.

Without another word, Fujitaka-san marched into the room and took place at the head of the table. As if he'd forgotten about them altogether, he didn't glance at them again until he was settled in his chair.

"Perhaps I'm the only one who is really qualified to give an account of what happened on the day of your wedding. Or what didn't happen. After all, out of all three of us, I'm the only person who was there. I wasn't the only one you kept waiting, of course. There were four hundred guests, including, may I remind you, Her Majesty, The Queen. The way I remember it, neither of you ever bothered to arrive at the church."

"But if I had, he—"

"But if I had, she—"

Fujitaka-san was famous for his ability to negotiate with high nobles and now Sakura knew why. He had a frown that could only be describes as monumental. Fujitaka-san turned the full power of his displeasure on them, efficiently putting a stop to both their protests.

"It's not an affair that concerns me in the least." He said, "and it is hardly an appropriate subject to discuss here. Let me remind you..." he looked from Syaoran to Sakura, and it was clear that he was not the least bit please.

"Yelen-sama's Jubilee is a matter very dear to my heart. It is a notable and historic occasion. I will not have it ruined by personal squabbles, nor will I tolerate petty bickering." He flipped open the leather portfolio on the table in from of him.

"Ah!" Fujitaka-sans gaze moved to the door, and as quickly as it had surfaced, his annoyance was hidden beneath a veneer of efficiency. "Here is the committee. Let's get to work, shall we?"

* * *

Ohhh so now its all cleared up, they both didnt turn up. Neither of them knew that the other didnt turn up. They just asumed and blamed each other.

Its going to get a whole lot more heated people so get ready!

Hope you liked it

xx


	4. Competitian

So here is chapter 4! Hope you all like it and thanks a ton for all the support!

xx

* * *

**Chapter 4**_  
Competition_

There was nothing more Sakura could say, and her only consolation lay in the fact that there was nothing for Syaoran to say either. Duly chastised, she dropped into the nearest chair, and it was too late as she realized Syaoran had taken the chair directly opposite to her. She paid him no mind, concentrating instead on the members of the committee who filled into the room, each in his black morning coat and stiff white collar more dignified and serious-looking than the last. Eriol, Tomoyo's husband and Rui's cousin, was at the head of the group, and she nodded a hello and offered her best smile to the rest of the committee members.

Fujitaka-san was a man of business, and he didn't waste any time. He introduced each of the committee members, told them a bit about both Sakura and Syaoran and their respective companies, and proceeded to cut to the chase. "That gentlemen…and madam," he added with an apologetic look at Sakura, "is the heart of the matter. A fireworks presentation befitting her majesty's status, celebrating her fifty years on the thrown is too be held soon and we need to arrange it. Sakura-san, what do you have to say for yourself."

Sakura had expected that he would ask, and she was ready. "Good morning gentleman." Convinced he was in no way entitled to the designation, she stood and nodded to the rest of her audience, ignoring Syaoran completely. In precise detail she laid out her plans for the festivities. But she made the mistake of glancing to the man seated next to Eriol. He was the elderly Takaki-san, and apparently the stories of his lecherous eye were not apocryphal. The man wiggled his bushy eyebrows at her and gave her a wink.

Sakura lost her place in her presentation. She wasn't sure if she should laugh or throw him a dirty look, trying to convince herself neither was appropriate, she stared straight ahead instead.

It might have been an acceptable solution if Syaoran hadn't been staring back. He's seen the whole thing, of course, and he chuckled quietly.

Sakura ignored this and scrambled in her head to get her presentation back on track. It was a pretty speech and prettily said, and all but Syaoran seemed impressed. He covered a snort with a cough and excused himself. With her piece said, Sakura sat back down.

A strong buzz of approval met her from around the table and she raised her chin and glared at Syaoran, daring him to deny that she had done a good job and done it well.

She did not have long to bask in the committees admiration. Fujitaka-san shuffled through the papers in his portfolio. "And what about…? What about this new firework you've developed? The one you call…" he ruffled through another stack of papers and, finally finding what he was looking for, he sat back and looked at Sakura for an answer, "the one you call _Diamond Rain_."

The smile froze on Sakura's face, and it was only with the utmost restraint that she kept herself from placing one hand on her heart, the place where the precious recipe for her newest firework was safely hidden. She dared a glance at Syaoran, only to find him leaning forward, like a terrier on the scent of familiar game. It was a look she'd seen before. The same look he'd given her back in the days when he'd first heard about Emerald Mist and was pleading to get a look at the formula.

"Um…I would rather not say too much about Diamond Rain, Fujitaka-san" she said, "There is the matter of company confidentiality." She looked toward Syaoran, then back to Fujitaka-san. "But I can assure you, the effect is amazing. It's taken me many months to perfect it, and it's truly befitting to her majesty's grandeur. I promise it will be the highlight of the festivities."

Fujitaka-san nodded in understanding. "Very well." He looked to Syaoran. "Li-san, it's your chance to speak up. What do you have to say?"

Syaoran leaned back. "Say? Not a thing." As casually as If he were passing the time of day with his drinking cronies, he rose from his chair. "Unlike Kinomoto-san," he said, tipping his head at Sakura's direction, "I am not a man of many words. I would rather let my work speak for itself. And that, gentlemen, is exactly what I indent to do."

Without another word, Syaoran went to the door and threw it open, and along with everyone else in the room, Sakura caught her breath. It was the most incredible thing she's ever seen. And the most astonishing demonstration of Syaoran's arrogance she could ever imagine.

There outside the door was a woman, a beautiful woman, with beautiful brunette hair and eyes that reminded Sakura of a cat, sleek and foreign looking. She was seated on a kind of raised table that looked like one of the marble altar stones Sakura had seen in many Greek museums. The woman's brow was adorned with a circle of greenery. Her hair flowed over her shoulders and spilled over her ample chest that were barely concealed beneath a gown of some gauzy fabric that was draped to look like a toga. All around the base of the altar, scantily clad women tossed rose petals and held onto silken white ropes that they used to pull the altar into the room.

"Behold!" Syaoran intoned with a flourish. "The Oracle of Delphi! The Goddess of fortunes herself." The committee, all ogling the woman, broke into spontaneous applause. Too astounded to do anything but gape in wonder, Sakura watched the device roll to the head of the table. They passed Takaki-san, who drooled and could not keep his eyes off the goddess on the altar. And even Eriol, who for all the fact that he was madly in love with Tomoyo as she was with him, obviously appreciated the goddess and her all-too-apparent charms.

They stopped at the head of the table, and Syaoran gave Fujitaka-san and exaggerated bow. "You have the honour," he told him. He pointed towards a tall vase set on the altar next to the goddess. There was a bouquet of fantastic purple flowers in the vase, and Syaoran pointed at one long, thin green leaf. "Pull the leaf."

"Pull it?" Fujitaka-san did not look so sure of himself. "That's right, sir," Syaoran urged. "Go right ahead." He pulled back Fujitaka-sans chair for him, and when the old man rose, Syaoran nudged him closer to the altar and to the extraordinary woman who sat on it. "She doesn't bite," he told Fujitaka-san, and whispered quietly though it still managed to carry across the room, "unless you'd like her too!"

Fujitaka-san reddened to the eyebrows, but that didn't stop him from going along with the scheme. As eager as a child on Christmas morning, he approached the altar and grabbed hold of the leaf.

"It's a cracker." Sakura spoke in amazement below her breath. She saw exactly what Syaoran was up to, thought it was clear that others didn't know what to expect. The vase contained a kind of cracker, when a string is pulled…

Fujitaka-san pulled the leaf, and a deafening pop resounded through the room. A stream of sliver glitter and small several fireworks erupted from the vase along with a folded piece of paper that Syaoran caught in midair. "Here you are." He bowed and presented the piece of paper to Fujitaka-san. "Your fortune, sir. Directly from the Oracle of Delphi." Grinning with delight, Fujitaka-san opened the paper. His grin turned into a smile. It erupted into a laugh.

"My fortune," he said, and showing it all around. "My fortune says, '_Soon you will have the very good judgment to work with the company that can produce a jubilee celebration that will be every bit as fantastic as this demonstration. Soon, you'll be working with Li Industry!_'" At this, the girls all began giggling and clapping.

The committee members cheered and applauded, and Sakura sank farther into her seat. The sounds still pounding through her head, she waited for the commotion to settle. It took some time. Like comrades in arms, the members slapped Syaoran's back and pumped his hand. It was, in short, a disgusting display of male camaraderie that Sakura had ever seen, and she could only sit quietly and bide her time and wait for the excitement to die down. Once the ladies were ushered from the room, the sensation subsided and Fujitaka-san was back to business.

Seeming to remember himself, he swept a flurry of silver sparkles from his chair and sat back down. "That was impressive, Li-san. I'm sure the committee would agree. I was not aware that so spectacular an effect could be achieved inside a building. It must take a great deal of skill. And imagination."

A study in modesty, Syaoran waved away the flurry of compliments. "It was nothing," he said, but it wasn't enough of a nothing to stop him from looking in Sakura's direction and offering her a wide smile. "Nothing at all. You should see what I'm doing at the Motoike music hall. There's a production opening tomorrow and-" he caught himself, and if Sakura had not know him better, she might actually have believed his stammer of humility. "No-no. That's not what we are here to discuss. The fantastic effects I've designed for the Motoike, the courageous Italian daredevil who is going to perform in my show at the Crystal Palace…those things are for another day. For today, we have the jubilee celebration to discuss."

They did, indeed, and Sakura had the distinct impression that they were all too ready to discuss it while the excitement of Syaoran's so-called presentation was still hot in their blood. Along with his continued hints at the dazzling effects and incredible shows, it was the last thing she wanted, and she spoke before any of the others could.

"You will probably wish to discuss your decision in private." She rose from her seat, and everyone present was obliged to stand. Sakura looked at Fujitaka-san, silently conveying her fondest wish that dignity would win out over sensationalism. "Li-san and I will gladly wait outside," she said. She moved towards the door and smiled with some small sense of satisfaction when Syaoran had no choice but to follow.

It was a desperate move, but Sakura was pleased to see that it had worked. There was only one problem with her plan of course. It meant that she would be compelled to wait outside, alone, with Syaoran.

Sakura should have known better.

She would never have a chance to be alone with Syaoran. Not while there were women anywhere about. No sooner had the door of Fujitaka-san's office closed behind them than Syaoran was besieged by the gaggle of giggling goddesses, each competing for his attention and one of his smiles.

"Yes. Yes. You were all wonderful. Really." He waded through them like Moses, not through a red sea but a sea of scarlet women, dispensing pats on their behinds, kisses on their cheeks, and finally money into their hands.

There was nothing that could be done but to get safely out of the way, and that is exactly what Sakura did. She went to stand beside the desk of the receptionist. Try as he might to keep his fingers busy and his eyes on the sheaves of paper he was filling with small, neat writing, the poor fellow could not help but stare. His gaze was drawn again and again to the thighs and hips and breasts that were so provocatively displayed beneath yards of filmy fabric. When he realized Sakura was watching, he reddened all around his face and got back to work.

"There you are, Nina!"

Across the room, Sakura saw Syaoran throw open his arms to the woman who was still seated on the altar. She climbed down, her movements rather unsure, her footsteps faltering, and it wasn't until then that Sakura realized the woman was thoroughly and completely drunk. That didn't stop Syaoran from enveloping her in a ferocious embrace. He draped an arm casually over her shoulders and, grinning from ear to ear both in appreciation of her performance and her physical perfection, he pulled Nina close.

"You were amazing! Wasn't she, girls?" he saved the last of both kisses and money for her, and was rewarded by Nina with a prize of his own, a kiss full on the mouth that lasted long enough to make the giggles of the girls all around them dissolve into sighs.

"Amazing!" grumbling the word, Sakura spun away from the scene. There was a window in front of her, and she stared out of it steadfastly, her fingers drumming against the sill, tapping out seconds that for some unfathomable reason seemed all too long.

Still, she held a tight breath of annoyance deep inside her, and didn't let it go until she heard the girls applaud and Syaoran's laughter ring through the room.

"Thank you all. You were all great. You are all adorable creatures. Too beautiful for words. I'll see you all at the rehearsal at the Motoike tonight. You too, Nina. Don't forget. That money is paying your rent, honey, not for drinking away at the bar."

He kept up a running commentary that faded bit by bit, and Sakura could only imagine that he was ushering the women out of the room and into the hallway beyond. He returned far more quietly than he left. Before Sakura knew it, he was standing at her side, holding out money in front of her nose.

"Oh! You're not one of the girls!" Syaoran grinned in mock embarrassment and tucked the money into his pocket. "I saw you standing there, and I thought you were one of my Motoike beauties. It's a shame you're not. You would definitely look sexy in one of those—"

Sakura whirled to face him. With the girls gone, the receptionist was back at this work in earnest, but she fought to keep her voice low nonetheless. Theatrics might be to Syaoran's liking, but they did not appeal to her. "You really are despicable," she told him.

Syaoran's grin widened, and he quirked his eyebrows in a most maddening fashion. "Nina doesn't think so." Sakura's lips thinned. "I don't think she knows any better."

"Maybe someone should tell her."

"Maybe they should."

"Maybe that someone should be you."

"I don't think so. She needs to find out for herself, poor girl, I'm afraid she'll find out sooner or later. Your true colours will show, and she'll know you for the man you really are." Syaoran's smile vanished, and he laid a hand on her arm, not so much to hold her in place as to command her attention. "Do you?" he asked.

It was not a question Sakura was expecting, not one she was sure she could answer, and for a moment she stood dumbstruck and confused. In this light, Syaoran's eyes were rich amber, bottomless and ever-changing. They were fired with flecks of gold that shimmered in the early morning light. Every trace of his laughter was gone, drained from his voice and from his expression. He held Sakura's gaze, his fingers tightening even so slightly against her gray jacket, his eyes demanding an answer.

It was a look she'd seen before, though even in the day of their engagement, it had surfaced all too infrequently. Syaoran saved it for those rare private moments when he abandoned the brash persona he wore like a suit of armour and showed another side of himself. Try as she might, Sakura had never been able to discover if this facet of his personality- thoughtful, intense and sincere- was any more genuine than the other. She'd had four long years to think it through, and she was no closer to an answer now than she had been then. The problem was, Syaoran hid behind so many faces, she was convinced that even he didn't know which man was the real Li Syaoran.

And if he didn't, she certainly want about to try and puzzle it out.

"I know you're the kind of man who isn't above using devious methods to sway the committee's opinion." Her words were enough to break the spell. Though he didn't move his hand, Syaoran's hold on her loosened and a smile played again in his eyes. "You call that devious?"

He glanced towards the door where only minutes ago his bevy of women had departed. As if he could still picture them and all their all-too-clearly displayed charms, he smiled with real appreciation.

"I'd say it was anything but devious. It was outrageous, yes. It was a bit flashy, I admit it. But it was brilliant and you know it. I wasn't trying to be the least bit devious. It was perfectly obvious what I was up to. I was trying to appeal to the members of the committee. Unlike you, with your well-said and quite moving speech, I was appealing to their natural interests, plain and simple."

"Well, you definitely appealed to Takaki-san. I have no doubt he is in there right now praising your geniuses and urging the committee to put you in charge of the fiftieth anniversary festivities, and sixtieth, the seventieth, and her eightieth too. You have Takaki-san's support. That's for sure. He was practically drooling all over your charming Nina."

"And I promise you, she didn't mind one bit. You might have had his vote, you know." Dangling the obvious in front of her, Syaoran cocked his head and waited for her to admit it, and when she refused, he continued.

"You might have played up to him a bit more. You know, when you were talking, old Takaki was goggling you as if he was a starving man and you were a buffet."

"Shut up!" Sakura shuddered.

Syaoran laughed. "You might have given the old boy a wink. What could it hurt? One thing's for certain, it either would have assured you of his vote or stopped the old fellow's heart in mid-beat!"

Sakura bristled at the very thought, and showing far more compassion than was usual, Syaoran amended it. "Too conspicuous for you, eh? Or too sensational? All right, then, if its subtlety you're after…you might have flashed him that famous smile of yours." He turned his own smile up a degree and moved a step closer. "I haven't seen much of it lately, but I remember it. I remember it could dazzle the stars out of the sky."

And he could make a woman forget to breath and forget her name.

Sakura shook away the thought and the feel of Syaoran's hand against her arm, and retreated as far from him as she could, as fast as she could manage. Her escape was apparently a bit too fast. It was the only thing that could account for the fact that by the time she got to the other side of the room, her breathing was ragged and her face felt as if it were on fire.

She was saved from trying to think what it might all mean when the office door snapped open and Fujitaka-san peered outside. "We are ready to give you our decision," he said.

Eager to get on with it, Syaoran rubbed his hands together and smiled. Sakura didn't share his enthusiasm. She didn't need to remind herself that the future of her company depended on what Fujitaka-san was about to announce. Her encounter with her brother earlier that morning had etched the importance of the committee's decision on her heart. Touya, with his intemperate spending habits, his endless gambling, and his indiscreet womanizing, had depleted the company's monetary support.

And of all people, it was Li Syaoran who was firmly standing in the way of her success. Yesterday, before she knew Syaoran was back, she'd looked on the opportunity to obtain the contract for the anniversary fireworks as a source of her pride.

Today, she knew it was more. Much more.

It was a matter of survival.

The one thought pounding through her head, Sakura lifted her chin and glided back into the committee room. She would very much have like to stand at the doorway so that she might flee quickly when the committee announced, no doubt in far more diplomatic terms, that they had succumbed to Nina's charms and decided to award the contract to Li industry.

But she couldn't. The members of the committee rose when she walked in, and etiquette demanded that she be seated so they could sit too.

Hoping against hope for some small reassurance or some sign that her imagination had gotten out of hand and overruled her common sense, Sakura looked Eriol. He firmly refused to meet her eyes. She glanced to the right of her, and found the men staring down at the paper on the table in from of them. She braved a look at Takaki-san, but the only encouragement she got from was a wiggle of his bushy eyebrows that told her the last thing on his mind was fireworks.

It was hardly a sign that she should be optimistic. Her mood plummeting by the second, Sakura dropped into the chair across from Syaoran's and forced herself to meet his eyes with an expression every bit casual and composed as the one she expected to find there. For once, he didn't disappoint her. Syaoran leaned back in his chair and chatted with the fellows on either side of him, eminently confident, supremely unconcerned.

"You are surely interested in our decision, and I won't keep you in suspense." At the head of the table, Fujitaka-san called the meeting back to order. "We have considered all aspects of the situation, and, I must say, you've left us with a pretty problem. On one hand, we have Kinomoto Corporations," he looked towards Sakura. "As distinguished and well respected as any company in all of Japan. One the other hand…" Fujitaka-san ran a hand through his pepper and salt hair, and sliver glitter rained down on the table.

"On the other hand, we have Li Industry, and thought I must admit, I was sceptical when you first contacted me, Li-san, you have proved yourself a very clever and resourceful young fellow indeed. So you see…" Fujitaka-san slid his gaze from Syaoran to Sakura. "You've given us a choice and left us with us with no choice, if you get my meaning."

Sakura was very much afraid she did. She clutched her hands together on her lap, bracing herself against the words she was sure were to come.

"We have decided…" Again, Fujitaka-san looked around, this time at the other members of the committee, as if giving them one last chance to change their mind. When no one spoke, he went one. "We have decided on a rather unorthodox solution to the problem," he said. "A kind of contest."

"Contest?" across the table, even Syaoran could not keep his surprise to himself. Curious, he leaned forward, his eyes narrowed, his jaw tensed. Sakura leaned forward too. "What kind of contest?" she asked Fujitaka-san.

"Why, a fireworks contest, of course!" Fujitaka-san smiled, and she knew it was his way of telling her he had voted for her through the meeting and had won this compromise against the wishes of the committee. "Six weeks. I trust in that time both your companies will be producing a number of fireworks shows." He didn't wait for either of them to answer. He knew it was true.

"There will be members of the committee in attendance at each of your productions. We'll be watching. Rating you performance. Seeing whose is the most spectacular. The most fitting for the occasion. And at the end of six weeks…" he rose, effectively putting an end to the meeting. "At the end of six weeks we will decide which company will be awarded the anniversary contract."

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	5. Sabotage

OK so i know this is a little tiny but late but im hoping you wont flip at me for it. Please enjoy it and review because it REALLY helps :D xx

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Disclainer: I dont own CCS or this chapter, but i made it neater :D xx

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**Chapter 5**_  
Sabotage_

Sakura wasn't sure if she should feel relief that Kinomoto Corporation had not been excluded from the running, or anger at the fact that had it had not been for Syaoran, none of this would have been necessary.

The anger won out.

Calling on every one of the lessons she'd learned through school and an endless procession of nannies skilled at teaching young ladies regal bearing and manners to match, Sakura rose from her chair and gave Syaoran as coolly calculated a look as ever there was.

"A contest." She murmured the words as slowly as she drew on her gloves. "This should be interesting."

"It should." Syaoran agreed. He waited while the members of the committee gathered their belongings and left the room, and when they were gone, he walked to the end of the table and waited there for Sakura. "Especially interesting now that I know about _Diamond Rain_."

Sakura smiled. It was not the same smile Syaoran mentioned earlier, a girl's smile, the one that could dazzle the starts out of the sky. It was a woman's smile, one that could freeze a man at any given time, and she aimed it full at him and was disappointed to see that he was too much of a pompous ass to be chilled by it.

"I wondered when you'd get around to that," she pretended not to notice when Syaoran offered her his arm but headed out the door before him.

"It's a pretty problem, don't you think? I have with me the recipe for the most beautiful firework ever produced. _Diamond Rain_, a sky full of brilliance so spectacular, it is sure to impress the committee far more than anything you could show them. Even Nina's assets."

"I don't know." When they got to the door that led into the passageway, Sakura stopped and Syaoran opened it for her, but he didn't step aside to allow her though. He turned to her, his face angelic. "Nina's assets are quite impressive."

Sakura's smile hardened. "I'm sure," she said, "You have firsthand knowledge."

"No doubt about that," Syaoran countered, "Hands-on experience, you might call it."

"I might. If I were so coarse as to mention it. Or so feeble-minded as to care"

"But you are neither"

"That's right."

Tired of waiting, tired of smiling a smile that was getting tighter and more uncomfortable by the second, Sakura pressed a hand to Syaoran's chest and pushed him gently out of the way. She manoeuvred through the doorway and headed down the long passageway that led to the building's front door.

"I could always ask you to marry me again."

Syaoran's words froze Sakura in her path. She thought to ask him to repeat what he'd said, just to be sure she's heard him correctly, but decided against it. It was bad enough hearing the words once. Another time might be her undoing.

Sakura pulled back her shoulders and turned again to face him. "You could, of course," she said, "I certainly can't stop you. But what do you suppose my answer might be?"

Syaoran laughed. He strode out of the office and over to where she stood. "You might say _yes_," he ventured, and when she did not respond, his smile tilted and his expression soured. "Or you might not. Damn, I'm not sure which is the lesser of the two evils." He recovered as quickly as ever, and his eyes filled with mischief. "But if you did agree to be my wife, Touya might present me _Diamond Rain_ as a wedding gift, just as he did with _Emerald Mist_."

"And you might take it and run. Just as you did with _Emerald Mist_. Then you might leave me waiting at the altar again just as you did—"

"I never left you waiting," Syaoran cut through her argument with one swift movement of his hand. "If I'd shown up, you would have left me waiting."

Sakura could have gone on with the debate. She might have if they hadn't been attracting the attention of everyone who passed. Instead, she decided to be, as was usual in all her doings with Syaoran, the lone voice of reason. "Then it seems as if we are even," she said.

"Hardly." Syaoran was not ready to capitulate. He looked down at her, his eyes dancing in the light of the overhead lights. "There is still the matter with our contests, and we are not even there. You may have your _Diamond Rain_, but I've got the Motoike music hall. They've asked me to work with them, you see. To develop some special fireworks effects that can be used inside the theatre. I've got one that's sure to astound the world. And I've just been told." He said, leaning nearer, "that Fujitaka-san himself will be there to see it. Then there's the Crystal palace next…"

As If he'd said too much already, Syaoran waved away the rest of his words.

Sakura couldn't help herself. Too curious to keep silent, too vexed to care what he thought, she had to know more. "The daredevil? The one you mentioned at the meeting? What are you planning Syaoran?"

He held up this hand, stemming the tide of her questions. "There is the matter of company confidentiality," he said, echoing her words at the meeting. "I wouldn't want to give too much away. But I will tell you that your _Diamond Rain_ will be nothing compared to what I have planned. A handsome young daredevil from Italy, whom I've finally managed to book after months of waiting, will be sure to astound the audience. A volley of fireworks the like of which Japan has never seen. It is a combination that is sure to entrance and certain to impress the committee more than anything you can come up with." He gave her a wink and headed down the hallway, and out the door.

"You like surprises, don't you?" he called over his shoulder. "I hope so. For the next six weeks I'd say you're in for a few."

"And you are in for a few of your own." Watching him go, Sakura grumbled under her breath. She might have gone right on mumbling away if a young clerk who hurried past hasn't looked at her as if she was crazy. Instead, she collected herself and her self-control and headed out the door, but not until she peeked through the front glass to make sure that Syaoran was well and truly gone.

He hailed a cab, and she watched him speak to the driver and hop in. She stared at the cab until it was out of sight, and found herself correcting an earlier thought.

This was no longer a matter of either pride or survival, she told herself.

This was war!

All wars require sacrifices.

Sakura gritted her teeth against the certain knowledge and the scream of frustration that threatened to escape her.

She'd figured that she had been ready to make the sacrifices, to fight the good fight and press on, her upper lip and her resolve stiff. She thought she was ready to scrum with the best of them, to lie, to cheat, and steal if she had to. All in the name of Kinomoto Corporation.

She hadn't figured on Nina.

Through the smoke-clouded air of the low-class tavern, Sakura took a long look at the woman seated across from her. Her determination disintegrated, and her stiff upper lip fell. Like it or not, her resolve was replaced by another emotion, an uncomfortable sort of feeling that crawled through her stomach, eating away at her confidence bit by bit and reminding her that Nina was a woman who seemed to have it all.

Nina was not beautiful, but she was striking, the kind of woman who turned men's heads and ensnared their hearts. She had hair the colour of ebony and almond eyes, like a cats. She had a complexion that was, quite simply, perfection. It was as smooth and as white as alabaster. Even though she was more modestly dressed than the last time Sakura had seen her, Nina's clothing did nothing to conceal the fact that she was more than sufficiently endowed, and proud enough of her figure and the impression it seemed to create on the male population in general that she preened before every man who walked by and gave her a second look. Nina had that certain air about her that theatre people do. She held an atmosphere of exotic that enveloped her as surely as did her overpowering perfume. She had intensity, colour, and, Sakura very much feared, more than her share of passion.

She also had Syaoran.

The thought crept up on Sakura and left her felling as if a bull had just rammed into her. It was a thought unworthy of her, not to mention completely illogical, but try as she might, she couldn't banish it from her mind. It churned through her along with the envy she suddenly felt towards Nina, and made her insides feel the way they had the time she had a severe case of flu.

Or perhaps she was queasy from watching Nina down glass after glass of cheap beer.

Sakura held on to that thought. It was less uncomfortable than thinking herself small-minded and jealous. And far less mystifying than wondering why she cared about Syaoran. Her mind made up, her resolve once again firmly in place, she watched Nina tip her head back, toss down her ninth glass of beer, and slam the empty glass on the table.

"Ahh! Ain't this nice of you to buy me a drink!" Nina's full lips curved into a smile, but her eyes were guarded. "What you haven't said is why you asked to meet me here tonight."

"Yes, I did say. Or at least I tried." Sakura muffled a grumble of annoyance. More than once in the two hours they'd sat together in the dingy pub, Sakura had asked Nina about her act in the Motoike music hall. And more than once—six times to be exact—Nina had demurred, promising they'd talk as soon as she'd had just one more drink. Sakura's patience was dwindling along with the money she had with her in her purse. "I told you, I wanted to talk to you about the firework. The one you—"

Nina laughed. It was a deep, throaty sound, the sound of disbelief. She leaned back, her arm draped with great effort across the back of the empty chair next to her, and winked at a fellow who staggered by and gave her an appreciative look. She smiled her sleek, cat-like smile and waved away Sakura's words along with a trail of foul cigar smoke that wafted by.

"That's not what you want to know."

"It _is_ what I want to know!" Sakura clamped her jaw tight around the words. "I want to know about—"

"You want to know about Li-kun"

"Syaoran?" it was not a topic Sakura wished to discuss, especially not with Nina, and she twitched her shoulders as if dismissing it. "I don't want to know about Syaoran. I care neither what he does nor who he does it with." It was a slip of her tongue that revealed more than was wise, both to Nina and to herself. Fortunately for both Sakura's pride and her peace of mind, Nina wasn't listening. She was too busy trying to attract the attention of the barman so that he might bring her another glass of beer.

"There's nothing about Li Syaoran I want to know," Sakura assured her, paying for the beer when the man brought over another glass. "I am a woman of business in a world that belongs to men. As such I have found it is sometimes difficult to compete and remain fair. Conducting business with men can be quite challenging."

"Don't I know it?" Nina didn't look at all embarrassed at the admission. She sipped her beer. "But challenging ain't exactly what I'd call it. Why, I remember this guy—"

"I don't care. I don't have time to spend on imagining you and your bed partners, and you…"she glanced down at her watch. "You don't have much time. Your performance starts at nine o'clock, or so I've heard, and it is eight thirty five already."

"We've got plenty of time." Nina took another sip of her beer, and not for the first time Sakura wondered how she could take in so much beer and still stay sober. "Now what were ya saying about Li-kun?"

"I wasn't saying anything about Syaoran. I was talking about his fireworks. The one, if I'm not mistaken, you are to light in twenty five minutes on stage at Motoike."

Nina sniffed. "Didn't know you two were friends. You and Li-kun. Been real thoughtful lately, has that one," she added, almost as an afterthought. "Ever since the meeting what he had us appear at over at that there posh office. Haven't seen very much of him, and I was just wonderin'…."

Sakura curled her fingers into her palms. "Fine," she conceded, barely containing the anger in her voice. "If you insist. If you'd rather talk about Syaoran than about a way you can easily earn a couple of thousand pounds then that's exactly what we'll do."

"A COUPLE OF THOUSANDS!" she had Nina's attention now, and Sakura congratulated herself and wished she'd thought to mention the money earlier. "You said in that note you sent me to ask me here, you said as how there was somethin' in it for me. But thousands? That's more than I make in a month at Motoike." Nina's excitement dissolved, replaced by suspicion. "What do you want me to do?"

Sakura got down to business as quickly as she could, before Nina could manage to take the conversation off in another direction. "Not much of anything at all. Really, I want you to tell me about the firework."

"Come see it for yourself and find out."

Sakura stifled a word that would not have been out of place either in the low-class pub or in the situation she found herself in. "I don't want to come see it." She admitted. "By the time you shoot the firework tonight, it will be too late. I want to know about it before the show. Well, before Fujitaka-san sees it and Syaoran's the talk of Japan and—"

She stopped herself before she said any more. There was no use letting Nina know how desperate she was. Instead, she set her purse on the table and ran her hand over it, a gentle if none too subtle reminder. It was enough to make Nina remember herself, and the promise of the thousands inside the purse. As if thinking about it very hard, she closed her eyes.

"It's a big thing," she said. "That there firework. Half again as tall as me. Looks like one of them fountains in the park—you know, all fancy like an urn with greenery all around, except as how it ain't real greenery but made of paper and such."

"And the firework, it's concealed inside the greenery?"

"No." As if it were the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard, Nina washed Sakura's suggestion with another drink. "It's in the fountain!" she said. Showing far more enthusiasm that she had earlier, she popped out of her chair. She staggered bit but not so much that she wasn't able to recover.

"This," Nina said, pointing at her glass on the table. "This'll be the fountain. And here I am." She laid more hand against her chest. "The star of the performance. I dance out onto the stage…" she managed a couple of almost graceful steps on the tips of her toes. "Dressed like a fairy princess, I'm in a dress that's pink and lacy and short and low-cut enough…" she leaned forward and drew one hand lazily across her breasts."…low-cut enough to make them men in the front seats drool."

Sakura didn't care about the low-cut dresses or drooling theatregoers. She cared about fireworks and about what she could do to make sure Syaoran's weren't any better than hers. "So you dance out onto the stage and towards the fountain. Then what do you do?" she asked?

"Well, I got this fairy wand, you see, and it spits out sparkles all around." Demonstrating, Nina waved her arms above her head. "And the music plays and I dance around a bit. And then I take the wand and I touch it to this one blue leaf on that there fountain."

"It's a flare!" It was obvious, yet Sakura couldn't help but be pleased with her deduction. Satisfied, she slapped the table. "The wand is a flare. Like the batons we use to light outdoor fireworks."

"Don't know what you call it," Nina said, "I only know that when I do, the whole thing goes up with a bang!" She dropped back into her chair. "And all these here paper things come flying out"

"Like the fortune from this morning?"

"That's right, only nothin' as simple as that. Thousands on end. By the time it's all over, the whole theatre is covered. And if the dress rehearsal we done is any indication, the audience will be standin' and cheerin' like never before."

Leave it to Syaoran to design an effect that could bring a rowdy music hall audience to its feet. Sakura wasn't sure if it was admiration or envy she felt at the thought. It didn't matter. Whatever her feelings, the source was the same. Syaoran and his firework. The one Fujitaka-san was to be in attendance to see that night.

The one she had to do something about.

"I will pay you right now if you will agree to follow my instructions." Sakura blurted out the offer before her conscience could remind her that it was the least honourable and the most underhanded thing she'd ever done. "Is there an intermission before the firework?" she asked. "Sometime when the curtain is down and you can go out on the stage without anyone seeing?"

Nina nodded.

"Great! Then this is what you're going to do. Before the curtain goes up again, wad up some fabric." Sakura demonstrated, winding a piece of imaginary fabric around and imaginary baton. "Wet it. And when the curtain is down, go out onto the stage and get the fuse all nice and wet. That way, when you dance out there as part of your act—"

"It won't go off."

"Exactly." Sakura reached into her purse and drew out a handful of money. "3000," she said, and slid the money across the table towards Nina. "Right here. Right now. Will you do it?"

"Course!" Nina ran the money through her fingers. "You're damned right I'll do it."

"Excellent!" Sakura decided to act before Nina could change her mind. She stood. "Then we'd better get to the music hall," she said. "You have only a few minutes to change." She headed for the door. She was halfway there when she realized Nina hadn't followed.

More irritated than surprised, Sakura turned. Her mouth dropped open, and a very unladylike curse escaped her lips. It seemed nine glasses of beer was enough. And ten was too many.

Nina's face was on the table. She was sound asleep. "Oh, come on!" Sakura hurried over. She shook Nina's shoulders. She slapped her cheeks.

"Ain't not use tryin'" the fellow at the next table told her. "Seen her like this more times than I can remember, and I'll tell you what, miss. She ain't movin' an inch until tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" Sakura's hopes dissolved in a haze of cigarette fumes. Her shoulders sagged and she looked toward the door, picturing the excitement that must undoubtedly be the building at the Motoike music hall across the road.

Surely, Nina must have an understudy, someone who would go in her place if she didn't show up. And just as surely, as soon as there was no sign of Nina, that woman would soon be donning he pink lacy costume, dancing to the middle of the stage and lighting the firework that would make Syaoran the talk of all of Japan.

"Not if I can help it," Sakura decided. She yanked the money from Nina's hands, and before she could talk herself out of a plan that was surely as risky as it was insane, she marched out of the pub and into the Motoike in search of a particular pink outfit.

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OOOH so exciting! What will Sakura do now?

A massive massive shout out to my reviewers and readers alike. You guys are the best. Without you I really don't think I would have had the courage to carry on writing. You all mean a lot to me, so thanks! Next chapter im going to do a special mention to all my reviewers as a massive thank you, so if you want to be on it then you know what to do :D

Love you all xx


	6. Pink

I know I have uploaded this chapter really early, but its a great chapter and I really want you all to read it!

Please enjoy

Rated M because of strong language and adult content ;)

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**Chapter 6**_  
Pink_

By the time Syaoran got to the Motoike, it was raining at a steady pour. He turned up the collar on his coat and hopped out of his cab, dodging raindrops and a group of rather shabby-looking young men who were going to the music hall, and headed toward the stage door at the side of the building. He splashed through a puddle that splattered the legs of his trousers, but instead of cursing, he laughed.

He was a bloody genius.

Like a drug, the awareness sang through his veins and quickened his steps.

He was clever. No, more than clever. He was resourceful. No, not even resourceful.

"Damned, bloody brilliant." He made the announcement to the fellow who stood sentry at the stage door, huddled beneath a large black umbrella. "You, Takuya, are looking at a damned bloody brilliant man."

"I've no doubt about that, sir." Takuya chuckled, and it might have been honest amusement or from the fact that before the night was over, he knew Syaoran would slip him a couple notes or two, as he always did. "You with your bleeding' fine fireworks! Always said how you were one of the great minds in the world, sir." Takuya tipped his hat. "Only would you mind telling' me what's made you just finally realize it?"

"It's raining!" Syaoran threw his head and looked up towards the lowering skies. Raindrops patted his check and plopped in his eyes. He brushed off the water drops from his hair and laughed when the cool water tickled his brow. "It's raining! And I'm shooting off fireworks!"

"Sure, sir." Takuya didn't look the least bit reassured, either by the words or by the fact that a man he'd always respected was cantering about in the rain like a madman.

"Don't you see?" Syaoran asked. "I was resourceful enough to invite Fujitaka-san to be here tonight. And clever enough to devise a firework that can be shot off indoors. The rain can't stop me. Not the way it would stop Sakura's fancy aerial shows."

Takuya gave him his due with a slight bow and a smile. "Sakura? What cherry blossom tree are you talking about, sir?"

"Not _what_ cherry blossom, but _who_ cherry blossom," Syaoran told him. "And I swear, Takuya, she is the most irritating woman on the face of the earth. But only nearly as clever as me."

"That's right, sir!" Takuya moved forward and opened the door. "Give her hell, sir. If anyone can do it, you can."

He could, indeed.

Syaoran stepped into the Motoike and shook the water from his hair. It was not quite as easy to shake thought of Sakura out of his head.

It was perplexing to think that her name could slip so effortlessly from his lips. He had hardly thought of her at all in the three days since their meeting at Fujitaka–san's. Oh, there was the time that morning when she had crossed his mind as he downed his second cup of coffee. And the time the previous night when he was at a party, bored and desperate for distraction. The way he remembered it, the host kept talking about his business and efforts to raise stocks. It was no wonder Syaoran's mind had taken off in search of diversion.

The only puzzle of the thing was why it had headed in Sakura's direction.

Then there was the night following the meeting at Fujitaka-san's. The night Syaoran had been alone in his bed and wondered where Sakura was and what she might be doing. Was she with Hiragizawa Rui? What were they saying? What were they doing?

Even with the dazzling lights of the Motoike winking around him, Syaoran felt as uncomfortable with the thought as he had when he lay in the dark.

And discomfort, like self-awareness, was one of the things he tried his best to avoid at all costs.

He shrugged away the thoughts of Sakura at the same time he slipped out of this coat. He had not meant to say Sakura's name out to Takuya or anyone else, fearing, he supposed, that something bad might happen to him by mentioning the unmentionable name, that doing so might put him at some great peril.

But there had been no crack of thunder. No flash of flame from the sky. He'd spoken the dreaded name. And lived to tell the story. He was a damned, bloody genius, indeed. And a lucky one at that.

Holding on to the thought and the buoyant feeling that went along with it; Syaoran hung his coat on a peg near the doorway and did his best to keep out the way. It was nearly nine o'clock, and the curtain would be going up soon, and as always, there was a flurry of activity backstage that when compared to the Shibuya station down town would put its night time traffic to shame.

The Motoike was one of the largest music halls in Tokyo and, to Syaoran's mind, one of the merriest. The singer and dancers and musicians who populated its maze of the passageways and enlivened its stage were a colourful and lively mix of people.

And then there were the women.

Syaoran nodded a greeting towards three pretty women who happened to walk by.

Theatre woman were everything he had hoped they would be, easygoing and indulgent and accommodating when the gentleman they were accommodating was accommodating enough in return. They weren't at all demanding, or intractable. They weren't set in their ways and utterly irritatingly stubborn. They weren't hard-headed, and they certainly weren't hard-hearted.

They weren't at all like Sakura.

The thought crept up on Syaoran with all the delicacy of a left hook thrown by a bare-knuckled street fighter. He twitched it aside, but try as he might, the notion would simply not go away.

He hadn't meant to let thoughts of Sakura intrude on the night's triumph, and here he'd found them mucking up his mind not once but twice in the last few minutes. Sakura was a rival, nothing more, he reminded himself, one whose reputation would be reduced to nothing by the time the performance was over and the whole of the city was crowing his name. He had not meant to think about her hard head or her harder heart, or the fact that she was as far from accommodating.

It was a damned nuisance to find that his intentions were so excellent and his ability to carry them out so flimsy.

Uneasy with the thought, Syaoran decided there was only one antidote. Fireworks.

His cure for everything from failed love affairs to hangovers.

Eager to get to it, Syaoran rubbed his hands together and went in search of his fireworks and of Nina.

He excused his way between two magicians arguing some arcane point and skirted the choir practicing its so called warm-ups. He ducked just in time to avoid being stuck square in the forehead by a piece of scenery that was being carted by. All the while he kept his eyes open from the flash of brilliant pink that would tell him Nina was dressed and ready to go on stage.

There was no sign of her, and Syaoran felt his stomach tighten.

Nina was a lovely girl, but not very bright. Only that morning he had give her a long and, in retrospect, probably an overloud lecture about the importance of paying careful attention to what she did tonight. He wanted to talk to her before the curtain went up. He waited to make sure she remembered the procedure, step by step. It also wouldn't hurt to make sure she was sober.

If Nina was drunk in her dressing room…if she was worried that her hair didn't look just right or her costume didn't hug her curves in all the right placed…

A glitter of pink caught his eye, and Syaoran breathed a sigh of relief. Nina stood in the deep shadows across the stage, her back to him, and he zigzagged his way through the crowd, headed in her direction.

He stopped at centre stage long enough to check on the fountain that was really a firework and talked to Hiro Takumi, his chief loader, who had helped him design the fountain and who was in charge of making sure the firework was put down into the fountain safely and correctly. Satisfied, Syaoran continued across the stage, his gaze wandering over Nina.

It was a lazy glance. An appreciative glance. He paid little attention to the pink satin slippers on her feet, but let his gaze drift upward. Whoever had designed Nina's costume was as much of a genius as Syaoran was himself, he decided.

The short-cropped gown with its pinched waist and low-cut neckline allowed a tantalizing look at those parts of a woman that were usually and quite foolishly hidden.

The costume showed off Nina's small waist. It caressed her hips and flowed like a pink dream over a nicely rounded backside that was even more appealing than Syaoran remembered it. It displayed calves that were not long but shapely as hell, and alluring enough to make him feel the hot rush of desire.

Nina had added her own touch to the outfit, a long pink shawl that covered her head, and though Syaoran had no idea what earthly purpose it might serve, he did not disapprove, it added an air of mystery, a touch of the exotic, and he imagined the men in the audience would find it as alluring as he did.

It was nearly time to shoot the firework, and that meant he needed his wits about him and his passion focused on a very different kind of flame.

As Syaoran neared, he saw Nina turn to peer at the stage, and in spite of his warnings to himself, he couldn't help but anticipate yet another visual delight. He knew the costume was cut very low and he braced himself for another delicious pang of desire…

He was very much surprised to find his only reaction was one of utter disbelief. Though the woman in pink was nicely rounded, she was hardly extraordinary. Not in the way Nina was extraordinary.

"SAKURA!"

The realization hit Syaoran full force, and his voice echoed in the vast confines of the stage like thunder. The woman in pink—the woman he thought was Nina—swung around and her mouth dropped open. If he'd had any doubts as to her identity, they were erased once and for all when he saw her face.

It was Sakura, alright, impossible though it seemed. Sakura who stared at him from the shadows that collected in the wings of the Motoike. Even thought her eyes were shaded, they were wide enough for him to read the emotions that raced through her. Horror first of all. Horror at having been discovered. Just as quickly horror turned to panic. Panic mutated to absolute embarrassment.

She was holding something in her right hand, and as soon as she saw Syaoran, she hid it behind her back.

"What the hell—" Syaoran pounded across the stage. He stopped inched from Sakura and clamped his hands over her shoulder, his fingers pressing tightly against her bare flesh. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Sakura managed a smile that trembled over her expression in much the same way as her shoulder quaked beneath his fingers. Yet somehow she kept her chin steady and her gaze level with Syaoran's. "I'm watching the show, of course," she said. "I've heard so much about this wonderful firework of yours that I—"

"You decided to damp the fuse." The truth of the matter fell into place, and before Sakura could utter another word or move an inch, Syaoran shot one hand around her and grabbed the hand she held behind her back. Just as expected, she was holding one of the batons that were usually used to light fireworks. Only this one was tipped with a wet cloth.

"This is low, even for you." Syaoran snatched the baton from her hand and cast it into the deepest shadows. His disbelief bubbled into anger. He glanced over his shoulder towards the fountain. "You didn't—?"

Sakura shook her head. "Your Hiro Takumi-san is a conscientious man, "she commented, but there was no satisfaction in her voice."I haven't had the chance to get close enough. I thought if I waited…" she didn't give him chapter and verse of her plan. She didn't need to.

"Of all the devious, deceitful, dishonourable…" the words wedged against the anger that blocked Syaoran's throat and played havoc with his heartbeat. Too angry to keep still, he dropped his hand and spun away from Sakura. "I can't believe you—"

"You're just sorry you didn't think of it first."

Sakura's words froze his in place, and in spite of himself, Syaoran smiled. "You're damned right," he admitted. "Though I doubt that even you, Miss Kinomoto…" he raised one eyebrow."Even you wouldn't be shooting off fireworks on a night like this. The rain would dampen your fuses sure enough. Far better than you've been able to dampen mine."

Sakura answered him with an exasperated _hmph _and she crossed her arms over her chest, making the right strap of her costume fall over her shoulder.

Syaoran couldn't help but chuckle. She looked rather like a pink flower, its petals demolished by a high wind. Talking pity on her, he stepped forward and put the strap back into place on her shoulder. "I don't think you're supposed to wear a scarf with this costume. Its flesh that men pay to see," he told her. "And flesh the fellows up in the cheap seats want to imagine."

"Not _my_ flesh." Sakura replied, her voice, for some odd reason, breathy. "It looks as if they will have to ogle someone else tonight."

She stepped away from him, and might have fled into the shadows if Syaoran hadn't grabbed her.

"Oh, no!" he held on tight, his fingers encircling her wrist, her skin soft against his. "You can't just run off. I won't let you." Another thought struck him and he looked at her hard. "What have you done with Nina?"

Sakura did her best to wiggle away. It didn't take her long to realize that the more she fidgeted, the more tightly Syaoran held on. With a mumbled curse and a look of disgust, she gave up. "I haven't done anything with Nina," she napped. "She's drunk. And from what I've been told, it isn't the first time. She passed out on a table over at the pub across from here."

Syaoran bellowed an oath. The word might have caused a stir, even in the dissolute atmosphere of the Motoike, if anyone heard it. No one did. At that precise moment the orchestra started into the opening strains of Nina's dance. The raucous music was met with a deafening cheer from the crowd out front, and the curtain began its slow rise.

Syaoran stepped back and looked Sakura up and down. "So you came to take her place."

She dismissed the notion instantly, just as Syaoran thought she would. "Of course not! I only put on her costume so that no one would notice me. I thought I'd damp the fuse and leave. You can't possibly think I would want to—"

"It's not that hard." His mind made up, Syaoran tightened his hold around Sakura's wrists and whirled her around so that she was facing the stage, and watched her eyes widen in what could only be described as terror as the curtain inched upward and the faces of the men in the first few rows were revealed. Hands applauded. Whistles and bawdy shouts filled the air.

In one small corner of his mind, Syaoran supposed he should take pity on Sakura. Hers was a jolter headed plan, but he'd been honest enough when he admitted he wished he had thought if it first. He had to give her credit for trying. And for looking so pink and delicious in Nina's costume.

Not that he cared.

Syaoran leaned over Sakura's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Fujitaka-san is out there somewhere. As well as half of Tokyo. And I wouldn't disappoint them for the world." He signalled to Hiro, who, as instructed, handed him a flaming baton. He slapped the baton into Sakura's hand and closed her fingers around it.

"Break a leg!" he said, and flattening both hands against her back, he shoved Sakura out onto the stage.

* * *

The lights were far brighter than she'd ever imagined. The noise was far louder. Grappling with the flaming baton, grabbing her drooping costume, and tripping over her worn feet, Sakura stumbled into the stage. She skidded to a stop twelve feet or so where she'd stood hidden in the wings and righted herself, squinting against the lights that blazed around her like a thousand fireworks shell all gone off at once.

In one breath she prayed that her eyes would become accustomed to the blinding light. In the next, she was sorry when they did. The searing light hurt less and less, and Sakura opened her eyes and looked out beyond the footlights.

A thousand faces stared back at her.

Sakura's stomach flipped. Her head whirled. Her knees felt no steadier as they had when she's stood in the dark shadows with Syaoran and he grazed a look over that somehow robbed her of her breath and caused her heart to beat an uncertain rhythm.

Her heart wasn't just beating uncertainly now. It was banging out a cacophony that was nearly as loud as the hoots and whistles that billowed from the audience, so loud they drowned out the music. The orchestra had no choice but to surrender. The music stopped. The shouting didn't.

"Hey! You're not Nina! Where's Nina?"

"Get to it! Where's the music? Where's the dancing? We came to see dancing!"

The voiced lapped over Sakura like waves, sucking her breath away. She darted a look around. Up in the balcony the audience was on its feet, whooping and cheering. Music hall crowds were notoriously boisterous, and already, down in the cheap seats at the back of the theatre, at least three fistfights had broken out. Obviously deciding a little mayhem was far more interesting than a dancer who wasn't dancing. So half the crowd was engrossed in the brawls.

Unfortunately, the other half was still watching her.

Trying to swallow around the lump of panic in her throat, Sakura moved her gaze farther from the front of the house. Even in the expensive boxes, where the men wore evening clothes and drank champagne, things were turning ugly. Someone threw a bouquet of flowers, but the ribbon tied to them with the name NINA in large gold letters spelled out on it told her the flowers were anything but a tribute.

Through it all, only one person remained calm.

Fujitaka-san sat in the first row at centre stage, his head tipped to one side as if he were thinking very hard. His hands were folded on his lap in front of him. His face was an impassive mask.

Ice formed in Sakura's stomach. It filled her veins. Shame and embarrassment congealed inside her, like a fist slammed right below her heart. In her mind's eye she saw her reputation shipping away along with her chances at the Jubilee contract. Gone forever in a pink haze.

All because of Syaoran.

Sakura tossed a look over to where he stood watching from the wings.

As she might have expected, Syaoran was surrounded by a bevy of chorus girls who seemed just as interested in the proceedings as he did. One arm hooked around the waist of each of the girls at his side, Syaoran watched Sakura with growing amusement. A smile played around his lips and lit his eyes. A laugh rumbled through him. The girls around him chattered and giggled and added their own raucous comments to those of the crowd.

And Sakura's humiliation melted into white-hot anger.

Always observant, Syaoran caught the change in her mood instantly. He lifted his shoulders, an elaborate gesture that proclaimed his innocence to the entire world. His arms still curved around the girls at his side, he wiggled one finger at Sakura, indicating the right shoulder of her dress, which was hanging precariously again. His voice carried even over the din.

"Need help?" he asked.

"Not from you," she yelled back, hoisting her strap. "Never from you."

Syaoran nodded towards the front row. "Fujitaka-san might think so. He might think you're not as clever a businesswoman as you pretended to be."

"Fuck you." Sakura bit the words off between clenched teeth, but it seemed that in addition to his many other talents, Syaoran was a lip reader as well. He laughed.

"Come back in," he called, waving her towards the wings. He patted the backside of the girl closest to him. "One of these beauties will get the job done far better than you ever could."

"And I'll see you in hell first." Her anger fuelling her every movement, Sakura gritted her teeth and set her jaw. Keeping the sparking baton at arm's length, she whisked the shawl from her shoulders. An audible groan of disappointment went up from the crowd.

Not that she cared.

She shot them a look that silenced them, then to a man and signalled the orchestra conductor to start playing. The conductor looked dubious, to say the least, but he was not insensitive to the fact that the longer they waited, the more chance there was of an all-out riot. He tapped his podium, raised his arms, and brought down the baton, and the music rose all around. Sakura listened for a moment, trying to catch a cadence and the rhythm.

"Great," she grumbled. "Utter embarrassment in four-four times."

But she wasn't about to let that stop her.

Her movements were not quite a dance. They were part ballet, part hop, and she was very much afraid she looked just as ridiculous as she felt. But ridiculous or not, it was enough to catch the attention of the audience. Before she'd gone more than a dozen steps, they had assumed that it was all part of the act. Their scepticism dissolved, and they decided the awkward woman in the pink consume was part of the grandest comedy any of them had ever seen.

Their catcalls turned into laughter. Their hoots became cheers.

Sakura did her best not to notice. It wasn't so easy to ignore the fact that, in the wings, Syaoran had loosened his hold on his devotees. He stepped forward, and the smile that lit his face conveyed his disbelief and, damn him, more than a hint of admiration.

Sakura shot him a look of utter venom that did nothing at all except make his smile widen. Ignoring it, ignoring Syaoran, the noise, and the mind-numbing certainty that she was ruined, she favoured the audience with her most dazzling smile.

Then she touched the flaming baton to the fuse.

She stepped back out of the way just as a geyser of flaming golden stars issued from the fountain. The effect was certainly beautiful, even a little picturesque, but it wasn't at all unusual. Sakura had seen the same sort of firework a hundred times. A rumble went through the theatre, a general tone of which echoed the sentiments of a fellow in the balcony who hung over the rail and screamed, "Is that all the bloody hell there is?"

It was all there was.

The realization left Sakura feeling remarkably pleased at the same time she scolded herself for being so taken in by Syaoran's boastful claims. It seemed she'd been forced to make a fool of herself for no good reason. The fountain of golden stars was pretty but hardly remarkable. And if it was this gold Syaoran was counting one to gild his reputation, she was afraid he would be very much disappointed.

She tossed a look over her shoulder at him. "Is that the best you could do?" she asked. "Golden stars. Hardly the stuff legends are made of."

"Hardly," Syaoran agreed. He cupped on ear in an exaggerated gesture. "But listen, Miss Kinomoto, is there something else I hear?"

There was.

Sakura heard a muffled _thunk _and, surprised, she looked toward the fountain just in time to see the front of it fall away. A series of loud reports echoed through the theatre. The polite applause stopped. The catcalls from the balcony were lost in the noise made by the half dozen fireworks that broke high over their heads of the audience. Every last man looked up. Every last mouth was open in surprise.

And wonder rained down from the rafters.

Thousands of glittering paper snowflakes. Hundreds of coloured paper streamers. Dozens and dozens of tiny Japanese flags floated through the air, and the audience members scrambled to snatch them up like so many fireflies. One flag landed directly in front of Fujitaka-san, and he scooped it up before anyone else could and waved it enthusiastically, a huge grin smoothing his rumpled features.

Awash in a pool of sparkling snowflakes, Sakura watched it all. This was no ordinary firework. A life-time experience told her as much, with one effect, Syaoran had accomplished every firework maker's dream.

He had made magic.

She knew it was the kind of firework that would be talked about for days. The kind that sparked men's imagination as well as their applause. The kind that would be described over and over again in countless pubs, countless parlours and, if the rapturous look on Fujitaka-san's face meant anything, countless boardrooms as well.

It was the kind of a firework of which legends—and legendary fireworks manufactures—are made out off.

Sakura snatched a red streamer from her hair and cast is to the floor and with the cheers of the audience ringing in her ears, she left the stage as quickly as she could. It was a poor ending, she told herself. A poor ending, indeed, to go alongside her turn on stage and to her career as the director of Kinomoto Corporation.

Had she been thinking more clearly, she might have looked for another way off the stage. Instead, she headed the way she'd come and was very much dishearten to find Syaoran and his girls waiting there for her.

"Go on. Out of here!" Syaoran smacked his palm against the backside of one of the girls. She didn't seem to mind at all. Giggling, she scampered past Sakura into the passageway beyond, a column of dancing girls following, wagging their behinds for Syaoran's benefit.

He didn't seem to notice. His head to one side, he kept his eyes on Sakura. Finally, he stepped back and applauded. "_Bravo_!" he said. "A stellar performance and one that is sure to go down in the annals of Tokyo history! Maybe you should consider a career on the stage when I'm awarded the Jubilee contract and you are reduced to selling Christmas crackers on the street corner."

Sakura slammed the still flaming baton into a nearby bucket of sand and skewered Syaoran with a look. She was no more in the mood to fight with him than she was to be the recipient of his smug smile or his questionable sense of humour. She sidestepped her way around him and headed for the door.

What she found waiting there for her was no better.

Performers lined the passageway. They cheered and applauded and urged her to join the show. Sakura didn't dare respond. She kept her head high and her eyes straight ahead, and when she finally arrived at the stage door, she banged it open and made to step outside.

It was only them that she realized that Syaoran had followed her.

He grabbed Sakura's arms and spun her around t face him, his eyes filled with mischief. "You're not leaving, are you?" he asked. "Listen." He bent his head. The sounds of the audience's cheers still echoed from out front. "You can't chuck your stage career now. They love you!"

Sakura glared at him. She wanted to tell him she knew they didn't love her. They loved his firework. But she refused to give him the satisfaction. "I don't want to be loved simply for my legs and my face," She told him instead. "You of all people should know that."

Syaoran's eyes lit. Standing this close, he could not possibly see all of her, but he made the effort. He skimmed a look form the top of her head to her waist. "You've got it all wrong. I never loved you simply for your legs and your pretty face."

Sakura's breath caught in her throat. Syaoran was not comfortable expressing his feelings. She knew that well enough. This idea that he might choose this inconvenient time and this very inopportune place to confess to some ancient and long-dead emotion caused her heart to skip a beat.

Syaoran stepped nearer. "Ying Fa." He skimmed his thumb down her cheek. "How can you think that of me? Of course I didn't love you simply for your legs and your face." He bent even closer and whispered in her ear. "I loved you for all those things in between"

Sakura barely contained a shriek of frustration. Flattening her hands, she pressed against Syaoran's chest and pushed him out of the way. He might not have given up so easily if he weren't so busy laughing.

Sakura ground her teeth and turned back toward the door. "You're not going out there like that, are you? It's still raining." Wiping tears from his eyes, Syaoran made another grab for her. He caught her shoulder and held her in place. "You'll freeze to death in this cold weather."

"Good. Then I won't have to face the rest of the world in the morning."

He did not seem at all sympathetic to her plight. His smile inched its way up until the corners of his eyes crinkled and his face shown with delight. "Before then, there'll be even more to talk about. If that costume gets wet…" he stepped back to get a better look, his gaze skimming the costume. "If it gets wet, it'll be almost completely transparent. Think of the poor cab driver who gets to drive you home in that state."

Sakura gritted her teeth. "My clothes…" she looked back in the direction of Nina's dressing room, where she'd left her clothes. The passageway was crowded with performers who were all too eager to goggle at her, hanging on every word Syaoran said and every one of her answers. "I'm leaving," she said, jerking away from Syaoran's grasp. "Now."

Syaoran shook his head in wonder, but he knew better than to argue. He reached for his coat that hung on a peg near the door. "Here, take this." He draped the coat over her shoulders. "And this." He pressed money into her hand, and when she opened her mouth to refuse it, he silenced her, one finger to her lips. "I doubt you have money with you, right now. And if you can't pay for your cab, you may have to earn your way home."

With one finger he nudged aside the front of the coat and took a good look at her. "The legs aren't bad," he declared. "They ought to earn you a fair bit. And your—"

Sakura didn't want to hear his opinion on anything else. With a final withering look she turned her back on him and, clutching his coat around her shoulders, she hurried out the door.

* * *

And that is the end of that chapter ;) I hope you all liked it.

I want to say a massive thanks to the following people. You guys are amazing and have really shown me the support I need to carry on this story.

First princess

Roseasweet

Enigma infinite

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Damage Report

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08

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You are all amazing people and without you I would feel loads less confident :D

Xx Love you all :D xX Please review and i will add you to my list of amazing peopl :D


	7. Roses and Proposals

"At last" I hear you cry! I know a lot of poeple wish i would update daily, but im staging it so that i have more time to write later chapters. Trust me, it will benefit you all in the future ;)

Anyway, i hope you all like the next chapter. It's one of my personal favourites.

As usual Rated M for language and adult themes. SO if you are under 18, then you shouldnt really be reading this but i cant exactly stop you.

Disclaimer: I dont own CCS...sadly... :(

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**Chapter 7**_  
Roses and Proposals_

"Sakura?"

The voice was muffled by the closed door of Sakura's bedroom, but she had no doubt who it belonged to. It wasn't the first time that morning that Touya had tried to talk to her. This time, like the times before, Sakura ignored him.

Bundled in her blanket in her oldest pyjamas, she sat on the chair in front of her dressing table, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her head pounding. She hadn't bothered to open her curtains, and the room was as dark as her mood.

"Sakura?" Touya tapped on the door. "You have to come out sooner or later. You can't spend the rest of your life in your room."

"You wanna bet?" As if she could see her brother through the door, Sakura glowered at it. The look might have been considerably more comfortable if her vision wasn't clouded by tears and her eyes weren't swollen from lack of sleep. "Go away, Touya. Just leave me here to die."

The door snapped open, and Touya poked his head inside. "No one's ever died of embarrassment," he told her.

Sakura wasn't so sure. She glanced at her mirror. Even through the gloom she could see that her eyes were an unsightly shade of red and they were ringed with black. Her skin was pale and her hair was a mess. Because of the inclement weather, it had taken her more time than usual to find a cab yesterday, and the rain had chilled her through to the bone. She could feel the cold still, and she was grateful—as grateful as she could be—for the coat Syaoran had given her.

"I feel dead," she told her brother, "and I look dead."

Touya chuckled. He came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulder, bending to peer at her in the mirror. "You do look kind of scary," he admitted, "and from what I head last night from the guys, it's no wonder." Whatever small hopes Sakura had that her adventure of the night before was over and forgotten were dashed completely. Her heart sank. She propped her elbows up on her dressing table and stared into the mirror. "The guys? You mean they all knew the story already? Last night?"

"You're the talk of Tokyo." Touya gave her an encouraging pat and headed across the room. Sakura wished he would berate her on her performance in front of so many men, but he managed to find amusement from all this, which was worse than his anger. She heard him open the curtains on the first window and then the second. "No one's being critical. At least not too critical. They say you looked cute. And a real stunner in that little pink dress."

"Great!" Sakura turned away from the sight of her own miserable expression. She could do nothing to disguise the bitterness of her words. "So I'm the talk of the town. Syaoran must be really enjoying this. He said I'd end up on the streets selling Christmas crackers." Sakura sighed "He's probably right. Well…" she grasped at what little cheer she could find in the situation. "At least if everyone is busy talking about me, they can't be talking about Syaoran's firework."

"Oh, they're doing that too." Touya opened the French doors that lead out to a small balcony, and a wave of cool air invaded the room. "They say it was amazing. Way more inventive than anything—"

"Stop!" Sakura hoisted herself out of her chair.

"I've already asked Yamamoto to make some coffee for you," Touya said before Sakura could call the butler herself into the room. "I told him that it's to be served downstairs in the living room."

"No." Sakura shook her head. "I'm not going down. Not today. Maybe never. I don't want to face anyone. By now even the household staff must know the story of what happened last night. I won't have them snickering behind my back."

Touya did his best to look solemn, but Sakura could not fail to notice that there was a hint of smile in his eyes. "I've strictly forbidden snickering," he said. He went to the door and opened it, but before he left the room, he turned back to Sakura. "I think you'll want to come down," he told her. "You'll want to see what's waiting for you." And with that, he left.

Sakura knew he was wrong. Whatever was downstairs, it couldn't possibly make her feel any better. Nothing could do that. Except for one thing. For all too brief a moment an image flickered through Sakura's brain.

Li Syaoran's head on a platter. Silver, of course.

Even that wasn't enough to make her feel much better.

In spite of the fact that she told herself she didn't care, Sakura found herself staring at the door, looking at the place where only moments ago Touya had been standing. He knew she could never resist a mystery, damn him, and by the time another fifteen minutes had passed, she had changed into a plain but pleasant outfit, run a brush through her hair, and summoned enough courage to venture out of her room and down the stairs.

She smelled the roses even before she got there.

Halfway down the staircase that led into the imposing foyer of the Kinomoto home, Sakura paused and drew in a deep breath. The air was heavy with the scent of summer roses, though she couldn't say why, and curious, she continued on her way. With each step, the flowery aroma intensified. So did Sakura's curiosity. When she got to the bottom of the stairway, she could hardly believe her eyes.

The foyer was filled with roses. Dozens of roses.

There were vases of yellow roses on the table next to the entrance door of the foyer, and vases of red roses on the floor next to the front door. There was one spectacular bouquet of white roses on the table right next to the door to the kitchen. And just as Sakura got there, the butler came into the hallway carrying another. "Yamamoto-san?" Sakura stopped the man and examined the bouquet. There was a full dozen roses in it, each more prefect and beautiful than the next. She looked from the white roses to the vase of red roses at her feet. "Yamamoto-san, where are all these flowers coming from?"

"I really can't say, Sakura-san." Yamamoto stood back and allowed Sakura into the room ahead of him. "They've been coming all morning." They had, indeed. From wall to wall the living room was filled with roses. Sakura stood wide-eyed, staring about the room.

There were red roses and yellow roses and apricot roses and wonderful bicoloured combinations that reminded her of fireworks crackling high overhead. There were tiny roses and lush cabbage roses, roses in crystal vases and roses in Chinese porcelain urns and roses nestled in pottery tureens. There were roses on tables and the floors, roses spilling out onto the veranda. More roses than Sakura had even seen anywhere.

And the scent…

Sakura pulled in a deep breath, and in spite of her misery, she found herself smiling. She twirled around, taking in a blur of colour that whirled with her. "Touya?" she looked toward her brother, who was standing on the other side of the room, surrounded by potted rose trees. "Touya, where are they all coming from? Who sent them?" Touya shook his head. "No card saying who sent them. Not on any of them. But they're all for you."

"Me?" It was the most outrageous thing Sakura had ever heard, and she laughed. She hurried over to examine an exquisite spray of red and white variegate roses. "They must be from Rui," she said. "Even though he only ever goes to the Ikebana shop to buy flowers, these are from Aina."

"They're from Ikebana and Aina and every other florist in Tokyo." Touya went from bouquet to bouquet, reading the names on the cards. "There isn't any florist in the entire city that would stock this many roses in one day. He must have gone to them all." Sakura's heart warmed at the thought. "He probably heard." she said, bending to inhale the aroma of the apricot roses that had been left on the piano. "He probably heard about last night, and he is trying to make me feel better. It's really sweet, don't you think?"

She plucked a single white rose from the bouquet nearest to her and held it to her nose. "There isn't any guy out there that could be more romantic than this."

Before Sakura had a chance to say more, the door snapped open and Yamamoto entered carrying yet another spray of flowers. There were at least three dozen roses in it, so many that Yamamoto could hardly seen his way around them, and he stepped gingerly into the room, balancing the flowers and the stunning French crystal vase in which they were arranged. The vase was exquisite. Like diamonds. The roses were lush and dew-kissed. They were gorgeous.

Except they were _pink._  
The exact pink of the dress that lay even now in a sodden heap in her bedroom. The dress she's worn at the Motoike.

The realization settled in Sakura's stomach like the remnants of a bad meal. The effervescence that had bubbled through her all but fizzled. It was coincidence, surely. Nothing more. A coincidence. Or Rui's idea of a joke.

But Sakura didn't believe in coincidence. And Rui was far too considerate to play mean jokes.

An uneasy suspicion pounded through Sakura's head along with the headache that was suddenly back in full force. She took a closer look at the roses on the piano and the tables and the sideboard. She stepped back to allow Yamamoto by, and when he finally set the prodigious bouquet on the table closest to her, she narrowed her eyes and looked it over as if she expected something—or someone—might be concealed deep within the pink petals.

"This one had a card, Sakura-san." Yamamoto's words snapped Sakura out of her fantasies. Dashing her suspicions aside, she accepted the envelope Yamamoto held out to her. Sakura turned the envelope and drew out the card.

"_**Thank you**_."

She read the simple message out loud, and looked at Touya as if he might help her make some sense of it. "What does that mean? Why would Rui be thanking me? Why would anyone…? Anyone but—"

Before Sakura could speak the name, Yamamoto, along with the cook, the driver, and the gardener marched into the room. Three of them carried vases of pink roses. The fourth had a large packet in his hands. "There's a message 'ere for ye, Sakura-san." The gardener reached around the vase he was carrying and presented an envelope to Sakura. It was marked with a large number _**1**_

"And this here one, too," the driver said. The envelope he gave her had a _**2 **_scrawled on it. "And this." The cook handed her the big packet there was a **3** written across the envelope attached to the brown paper wrappings on the packet. "And this." Yamamoto handed her the final envelope. Wonder-struck, Sakura set the packet on the floor and started in on the envelopes in order.

"_**You were spectacular**_."

She read the first message aloud, and the suspicions that had been only inklings bloomed until they were as abundant as the flowers that surrounded her. She opened the second envelope with less enthusiasm.

"_**Now…**_" the message said. More sure than ever, she tore into the third envelope, the one that had arrived with the packet.

"_**Here are your**_—" the words caught on the gurgle of outrage that climbed up Sakura's throat. "Here are your what?" Too curious to wait for her to calm down, Touya ripped the packet open. "_**Clothes**_," he said, looking at her in wonder. "That's the outfit you wore yesterday when you—"

"Yeah, yeah." Sakura tossed the third card to the floor. She tore into the fourth envelope and read the card, and when she finished with it, she crumpled it into a tight ball and held it in her fist. She looked from Touya to Yamamoto and from him to the others who stood nearby. "Get them out," she said.

"What?" Even Yamamoto, usually the soul of discretion and the height of decorum, could not help but he surprised. He looked at Sakura as if he hadn't heard her properly. "What did you say, Sakura-san? Get them out? Get who out?"

"The flowers." Sakura clenched her teeth until her jaw ached. Her voice was muffled beneath the weight of the anger that pressed against her chest and drove the breath from her lungs. "I want them out of here, and I want them out of here _now._"

Yamamoto didn't bother looking at Touya for approval. Along with his wife, the housekeeper, Yamamoto had spent thirty-five years serving the Kinomoto family, and he knew that when Sakura made a request, there was no arguing with it, just as there was no second-guessing her intent. He bowed. "Right away." He hoisted a vase into his arms and looked at the others, instructing them to do the same. Sakura didn't move. Not until every one of the vases had been taken away. The last of them in his arms, Yamamoto backed towards the door. "What shall I do with them, Sakura-san?"

Sakura had a very good idea what Yamamoto could do with the flowers. Her suggestion had to do with loading them into a cart and carting them back to a certain so-called gentleman, and stuffing it up his….she bit her tongue and kept her ideas to herself.

"One vase for each of the maids, I think," she told Yamamoto. "And one for you wife," she glanced out the doorway at the vases that were being cleared from the foyer. "Touya, you probably know some girls who can appreciate these flowers. It will save me the trouble of paying for the ones you might order yourself." Touya took up the offer instantly and went out of the room to supervise the delivery of the flowers he chose. "The rest…" Sakura glanced at Yamamoto, who was still waiting for further instructions. "A church. A hospital. I don't care. Do what you want with them, Yamamoto-san. Just do it quickly. I don't want to see them. Not even one. _Especially the pink ones_." Yamamoto nodded and backed out of the room and closed the door behind him, and it wasn't until after Sakura heard it _click_ shut that she allowed herself the luxury of a completely crestfallen groan.

She sank onto the couch and dropped her head into her hands. That's when she realized she still was clutching the fourth card in her fingers. She pried it out and smoothed it flat and read the message.

"_**Please,**_" it said, in a handwriting that was all too familiar, "_**can I have my coat back?**_"

* * *

"I came as soon as I could." Hiragizawa Rui slipped out of his coat and handed it to the butler who waited near the door, his dark eyes filled with sympathy. He took Sakura's arms and stepped aside so that Yamamoto could lead them up the stairs to the second floor. "I'm so sorry it took so long." he said. "With Eriol in Tomoeda, there were things I needed to attended to in town and—"

"It's okay." Sakura stopped outside the door to the living room and allowed Yamamoto to open it, and when he had, she went inside and stood by the small fire that had been started in the grate to chase the chill of the winter evening.

Rui had sent a message earlier in the day saying that he would come at eight, and knowing she would see him was the only thing that had made the balance of Sakura's day bearable. After personally supervising the disposal of every last of Syaoran's roses, she had forced herself to get enough sleep so that she might look far more presentable then she had that morning. She had fortified herself with a good deal of coffee and a leisurely bath, and had dressed in one of her best at-home evening outfits, a yellow dress that made her look far sunnier than she felt. Sakura had swept half her hair into a ponytail with soft curls falling beside her face, and a small flower clip to hold back some stubborn strands from her eyes.

She had deliberately avoided any of hair clips that were adorned with roses. Sakura shivered. She cast the thought aside and concentrated instead of Rui.

There was no spark of mischief in Rui's burnt-almond eyes, and for that Sakura was grateful. There was no hint of a lecherous grin on his lips either, and for that she was relieved. Rui was handsome as any man in Tokyo, and if he was not as exciting as some, or as devilish, or as unpredictable, or as mercurial, he was also not as irritating and as fiendish and as impulsive and as volatile.

Not that she was comparing Rui to anyone else. The very thought was unworthy of her, and Sakura dismissed it.

As soon as Yamamoto left the room and closed the door behind him, she went to Rui, her hands extended. He took them in his. "You won't believe how mad I was when I heard what happened at Motoike last night." It was enough that he had tried to console her. Sakura rewarded him with a kiss. It was meant to be nothing more than a greeting, but Rui deepened it and she didn't resist. There was comfort in Rui's arms, especially after the disaster of the last twenty-four hours, and Sakura allowed him to draw her nearer and hold her close. "...Sakura." he nuzzled her cheek, his voice heavy with longing and soft against her skin. "I've missed you so much. I've—" he sniffed. "Is that a new perfume you're wearing? I smell roses."

"Ugh!" Sakura pulled away. Roses were that last things she wanted to talk about. Not tonight. She'd had her fill of roses and the thoughts of Syaoran that seemed tangled up in them, like beautiful rose petals nestled in treacherous thorns.

Grumbling her displeasure, Sakura paced to the other side of the room and did her best to change the subject. "You said Eriol is already in Tomoeda. I think he's putting the last touches on the costume ball Tomoyo is planning. Tomoyo asked for a firework display, and I couldn't say no. I've got everything planned out and I'm supervising the preparations so that means I have to go there early. Tomoyo is going to lend me her Cinderella costume." Rui didn't respond, and Sakura couldn't help but wonder why. He was usually an easy conversationalist. "You're still going as Prince Charming, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yeah." Rui went to the sideboard and poured himself whiskey. He knew Sakura didn't like to drink liquor very often, but he poured one for her as well. But he didn't hand it to her right away. He stood in front of her, shifting from foot to foot, refusing to meet her eyes. "What is it?" Sakura didn't wait for his answer. She took her drink from his hands and took a sip. "You're very quiet all of a sudden. Ever since I mentioned the costume ball."

"Well, the ball. About that..." Rui huffed and took a sip of his own drink. "That's what I've come to talk to you about." The words were innocent enough, but Sakura didn't like the sound of them or the queer, shivery feeling that made its way over her shoulders when he said them. A premonition of doom.

"What's he done?" She asked.

"He?" Rui's dark brow rose. "You mean that Li guy? How did you know—?"

"It has to have something to do with Syaoran." Annoyed even before she knew what she had to be annoyed about, she deposited her glass on the nearest table and turned away from Rui. "Everything lately has something to do with Syaoran," she said, and the chill in her stomach told her it was the absolute truth. Wherever she turned, there he was, standing firmly in the way of the success of Kinomoto Corporation.

"What's he done this time?"

Rui sighed, "He's talked Eriol into—"

"Not the ball!" Sakura spun around. "He hasn't gotten them into letting him—"

"I'm afraid so." Rui took her hands in his. "Li has offered to provide his service to the family for free. You know how concerned Tomoyo is about making Eriol look good in front of his peers. She didn't let him turn down the opportunity. Yours won't be the only fireworks at Tomoeda that night, I'm sorry to say."

"Fireworks!" Sakura sniffed, but it was far too genteel a sound to contain her anger. "If that's what you call one of Syaoran's tawdry displays. Mine will definitely outshine his. They'll be better. Brighter. Way more impressive. They'll be—"

"Sakura?" Sakura didn't realize she was clutching Rui's fingers quite so tightly. She saw him wince. She curbed her fury and released his hands. But instead of looking relieved, Rui only looked agitated. "Sakura, this has to stop!" He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, bridling the displeasure that edged his every word. "You are far too taken with this man!" The very idea was ludicrous, and Sakura let Rui know as much with a disdainful laugh. "I'd hardly call it taken. I think a better word is enraged or exasperated or antagonized beyond all tolerance. But not taken, Rui. Not with Syaoran. I will never be taken with Syaoran."

"All right, then," he conceded. "Preoccupied. Your way too preoccupied with this Jubilee contract nonsense. Let Touya worry about it, honey. The firework business is no place for a woman. Look what it's done to you. You spend a good deal of your time worrying about Li Syaoran, and I don't think that's healthy at all." Rui hauled in a long breath. "That's the other thing I've come to talk about."

"Oh?" Sakura couldn't imagine what he meant.

Not until Rui scooped her right hand in his and got down on one knee in front of her.

Her heart skipped a beat. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time. She had been expecting it. But now that it was finally here, she found herself feeling more panic than anticipation. She held her breath deep in her lungs and waited for Rui to say more. "Sakura…" He twined his fingers through hers and looked up into her eyes, and if he noticed the flutter of trepidation that caused her breath to rise and fall erratically and her pulse to pound, he was enough of a gentleman not to point it out. And enough of a man to think that it was a reaction to the situation. And his nearness.

"Running a firework company is no job for a lady." It was a poor opening for a deceleration of love, but Sakura excused him. Proposing marriage was not something a man did every day, and it was quite possible he was just as nervous as she found herself to be. "You'll agree, no doubt, that if you weren't involved in Kinomoto Corporation, you never would have been a part of the fiasco at Motoike yesterday. A woman like you needs to be free of the mundane worries of business. You should have better things on your mind. A home. Children. A husband." He adjusted his grip, squeezing her fingers tighter. His palms were damp.

"Kinomoto Sakura, you would make me the happiest man in the world if you would..."

"Where the hell is my coat?" The living room door crashed open, and the question echoed through the room. Startled, Sakura gasped and Rui's face went pale. They both turned to stare at Syaoran, who stood propped against the doorway.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura-san." Behind Syaoran, Yamamoto was huffing and gasping for air. "I tried to stop him at the door, but you know how Li-san can be." He rolled his eyes, as if that one expression explained it all.

It did.

Sakura's face froze. Her lips thinned. "It's alright, Yamamoto-san," she told the butler, "You can go. And Li…" she swung her gaze toward Syaoran. "You may leave as well."

"Not yet." Syaoran ventured farther into the room. He was dressed as Rui was, in formal clothes, but while Rui's dark trousers and white shirt made him look distinguished and aristocratic, Syaoran's made him look more devilishly handsome than ever. Or perhaps it was the gleam that lit his eyes when he saw Rui on his knees. "Wait…" Syaoran whistled low under his breath. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"What do you care?" Sakura untangled her hand from Rui's and helped him to his feet. "When you barge in on people—"

"I'm not barging." Syaoran's gaze landed on the whiskey bottle on the sideboard, and he went over and poured himself a drink. "I'm just looking for my coat," he said. "It's incredibly chilly out there, woman. Don't you ever go outside to check? I need my coat. She took it, you know," he confided to Rui while he took a sip of the rather generous drink he'd poured himself. "Last night. She was dressed in this little…" As if unable to describe it adequately, Syaoran pulled a face and sketched the shape of the pink costume over his own hips. "Looked mighty delicious, too, I can tell you that much. But tiny costumes are not much for keeping out the rain. Did you get your clothes, by the way?" he asked Sakura. "I had to send them to her." He turned again to Rui. "She left them behind, you see."

Rui was a man of infinite patience, but Syaoran's ill-timed visit tried even his own limits. "This is ridiculous." He grabbed his own drink and tossed it down. "And rude. Sakura and I were discussing a very private matter and I—"

"Ah, young love!" Syaoran sighed. "Proposing, were you? This is the same room where I proposed to Sakura. No, wait! It wasn't here, was it?" He looked at Sakura, his eyes sparkling amber. She didn't doubt for one moment that he would be rude enough to tell Rui the whole story. The summerhouse at her father's country estate. The thunderstorm that had trapped them there for an entire afternoon. The one experimental kiss that had exploded into a passion that had surprised and delighted them both.

Sakura caught her breath.

"So you do remember." The spark in Syaoran's eyes softened until they were the colour of the flame burning in the fireplace and his voice carried its heat. As if remembering where he was, and who he was with, he snapped out of the moment as quickly as he'd succumbed to it. "I stand corrected." he told Rui, "This wasn't where I proposed at all. She might not even be the woman I proposed to. It's hard to remember, isn't it?"

"It isn't all that hard to remember at all." For all his virtues, Rui didn't have an especially keen sense of humour. He didn't tease. And he didn't recognize when others did. He stood straight and stiff. "If a man truly loves a woman, he remembers everything. Every minute of their time together." It was just enough of a challenge, whether Rui realized it or not. Sakura knew she had to change the subject or risk Syaoran saying far more than he should. Though her glass was still half full, she held it out to Rui. "Fill this up for me, please?" she asked. She knew he wouldn't refuse. Before Rui got as far as the sideboard, Syaoran swallowed the rest of his drink and held out his glass as well. When Rui returned to make their drinks, Syaoran closed in on Sakura.

"Looks like I got here just in time," he whispered. Sakura brushed imaginary dirt from her skirt. She refused to meet his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you?" Syaoran glanced over his shoulder toward Rui and stepped to his left, effectively shielding Rui's view of them. "I could stay all night if you need me. It might help keep some of that famous Hiragizawa devotion at bay." Sakura tossed her head. "I don't need saving, thank you very much. I've told you that before. Especially not saving from Rui." Syaoran snatched up her hand. "Saving from you then?" His hands were warm, not soft and damp like Rui's but dry and strong, the skin toughened from their peculiar trade. His fingers were long and thick, and they curled through hers with the instinctive ease of remembrance. Syaoran smelled of soap, and soft sandalwood. And something else.

Sakura sniffled. She leaned nearer and wrinkled her nose. "Are–are you drunk?"

Syaoran grinned, and for the first time she realized he was not as steady on his feet as he pretended to be. He looked up quickly and had to resettle himself because of it, and when he was done, he gave her a wink. "Only a little."

"A little too much."

"I had to get a little drunk to get the nerve to come see you after what I put you through last night." Syaoran's voice dipped and his mouth moved dangerously near. It was a potent combination, and Sakura found she couldn't look away. She watched the fire in his eyes flare and felt an answering spark flame within her. It was not at all comfortable warmth. Not like the glow she felt when she was in Rui's arms. This fire was hotter and far more dangerous.

"Did my roses do the trick?" He looked around, searching for the flowers.

"What roses?"

"Got rid of them, did you? I'm crushed!" Syaoran laughed. "Oh, well. All that really matters is if you forgive me. Do you, Sakura?"

Fortunately, she didn't have a chance to answer, and it was a good thing. She wasn't sure what she would have said. Rui returned with their drinks, and Syaoran let go of her hand. Sakura used it to fan her face. "I'm glad I found you both together." Syaoran accepted the drink Rui held out to him and retreated a dozen steps, slipping easily into his brash persona. "I can give my invitation to both of you." He looked from one of them to another. "You're coming, aren't you? To the Crystal palace? Next week?"

"You mean to your second demonstration?" Rui's eyes lit, and with a sinking feeling Sakura realized he must have seen the flyers Syaoran distributed throughout Tokyo. He was just as taken with the promised excitement of the event as was the rest of the nearby population. "The one featuring that—featuring a…"

"Daredevil." Syaoran supplied the title for him. "I wanted you to be there." He wasn't looking at Rui. He eyes were full on Sakura, but she pretended not to notice. "I can't imagine why we should," she said. "It's definitely going to be just another one of your flamboyant demonstrations. More fluff than substance. More noise than imagination."

"Not this time!" Syaoran finished his drink and set his glass on the table. He fished into his pocket and pulled out two tickets, which he handed to Sakura. "You'll want to be there," he assured her. "I guarantee you'll be impressed just like the committee will be. They'll be there too."

"And at the party at Tomoeda?" Sakura gave him an icy smile. "So you've heard about that, have you?" Syaoran wasn't the least bit embarrassed. Or repentant. Laughing, he headed towards the door. "It's a rare opportunity for you, Sakura-san. You can watch a real fireworks master at work."

His words still echoed in Sakura's head after he's gone.

"A real fireworks master." She lifted a pillow from the couch and punched it, then tossed it back where it had come from. "Don't worry." Rui came up behind her and planted a kiss on the back of her neck. "Remember what I told you. Don't worry about the firework business." Sakura looked down at the tickets clutched in her hand.

A plan formed in her head, and a smile came to her lips. "You're right." Smiling, Sakura turned to him. "I won't worry. Not any longer."

* * *

He he. Hope you guys liked it. I have been flooded with reviews and im sooo glad because it means that with each chapter there are less and less mistakes. It also really boosts my confidence so thank you.

**I have an urgent request: If anyone knows the spoilers for the rest of the story or where i can get them it would be seriously appriciated because at the moment i dont have them and im afraid that i will mess up the rest of the story without them. It would be a major help if anyone has any information. Thanks xx**

Please review and look out for the next chapter xx


	8. Daredevil

I know this took a while to upload but i have been really busy at the moment so i put it up as soon as i could. Anyways, here it is so please enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 8  
**_Daredevil_

There had been fireworks shows at the Crystal Palace in Tokyo since 1865. Sakura knew that well enough. Kinomoto Corporation had mounted most of them, or at least, she was certain, the ones that were the most spectacular and the best received. The others—inferior, lacklustre, and undoubtedly second-rate—had been engineered by Li Industry.

Not by Syaoran, of course. Not in the beginning.

It was Syaoran's grandfather who had designed the first shows. From what Sakura had heard about him, she knew that Li Saito was a crusty fellow who had at one time been an assistant to her own grandfather at Kinomoto Corporation. They'd had a falling-out over the ownership of a firework recipe—Sakura knew it went without saying that the Li's were in the wrong—and Saito had gone on to start his own company. After Saito's death, Syaoran's father took control. A scandalous affair with the youngest daughter of an earl destroyed his reputation and nearly ruined the company.

It might have. If Syaoran had not taken over.

Syaoran was the first Li who had the audacity to go head to head with Kinomoto Corporation. He had accumulated a fortune by catering to the nouveau riche and the theatre crowd with his fireworks, and he used his money to make a name for himself and for his business. He might have redeemed the reputation of Li Industry completely had he married well.

Had he married Sakura.

The thought skittered over Sakura's shoulders like the touch of icy fingers. It settled inside her like a lead weight.

She had been trying her best not to think about marriage. But ever since the night Syaoran had interrupted what most certainly would have turned into a full-blown proposal from Rui, she had found it more difficult than ever to put the subject out of her mind. It was an annoying predicament at best. And disturbing at worst.

Not because Sakura wasn't expecting the proposal from Rui, but because every time she thought about it, her mind went into a muddle. Images of Rui smeared with those of Syaoran. Memories of Rui's heart-felt if somewhat bumbling proposal blurred beneath other memories. Memories she had no business remembering. Emotions she had done her best to control. Sensations she had tried so hard to forget.

With a shake of her shoulders, Sakura banished the thought and held tightly to her determination.

She glanced up at the Crystal Palace. It rose in dazzling bubbles of glass and iron above the trees, an enormous building that had originally been constructed to house the International Exposition and was now used as a pleasure garden. There were footpaths all around, shaded grove of trees, band concerts on terraces. And at night there were fireworks.

Sometimes they were Kinomoto shows.  
Sometimes, like tonight, they were Li industry fireworks.

And after tonight?

Sakura smiled. For the first time since the day she's learned that Syaoran was back and that he had his eyes and his heart set on the jubilee contract, she felt her sprits lighten.

Her arm was wound through Rui's, and sensing her contentment, he patted her hand. "You look really happy tonight, Sakura. I hope it's because you've finally decided to listen to me. No more worries about fireworks?"

"No more worries," she assured him. She glanced up in search of a glint of the slender, nearly invisible wire she knew was strung from the top of one of the towers that flanked the front entrance of the building. Had she been a casual observer or simply one of the thousands who was gathered here this evening to watch the extravaganza, she might not have noticed the wire at all. But she hardly a casual observer. She had spent a good deal of time here at the Crystal Palace in the last week, watching Syaoran's workers, talking to them.

She had learned a great deal about what was going to happen here tonight. Not the least of which was that Senor Francesco Russo, the Italian daredevil Syaoran had hired for the occasion, was a man who must be absolutely, thoroughly, and entirely mad.

Her eyes followed the path of the wire from the top of the sixty-foot tower to the ground. No man in his right mind would do what Francesco Russo was about to attempt. And only a man with Syaoran's flamboyant imagination would have designed such an effect.

There would be a flurry of fireworks to begin with. Then Francesco would appear at the top of the tower. He would be dressed in a light-reflecting suit, Sakura knew. With fireworks going off all around him, his body would look as if it were moulded from pure flame. To be in the middle of a barrage of fireworks was bad enough, but what Syaoran had Francesco doing next was unthinkable. After some theatrics, some music, and a good deal many more fireworks, Senor Francesco, daredevil and madman, would slide down the wire to the ground. It was a difficult stunt and, if the height of the tower and the breadth of the wire meant anything, dangerous as well. It was also sure to cause a stir the likes of which even Syaoran's fountain at the Motoike had not.

If it worked.

Sakura's smile grew and her heart skipped with excitement. She had devised a well planned scheme that would embarrass—and certainly not harm—the Italian daredevil. But not nearly as much as it was sure to embarrass Syaoran. That and a well placed amount of cash to one of Syaoran's crew had assured her of success. Poor Syaoran as about to be disappointed. Poor Senor Francesco was about to be disappointed.

But neither would be nearly as disappointed as the crowd was sure to be when the effect failed miserably.

"Ah, I wondered if I'd see you here." Sakura pleasant thoughts were interrupted by Fujitaka-san, who bowed a greeting to Rui and Sakura. Always the diplomat, Fujitaka-san had the good grace not to acknowledge the fact that the last time he'd seen her, Sakura had been wearing nothing but a pink costume that covered too little and showed too much.

"Have you taken a look at this?" Fujitaka-san waved a flyer in front of Sakura's nose. It was printed on a yellow paper and featured fat black letters that proclaimed

**The Incredible Senor Francesco Russo**

Right above a drawing accented with lurid shades of red that showed a man flying high over Crystal Palace, flames shooting from his back and arms. "If the performance is half as excellent as this picture…" Fujitaka-san socked in a breath. "It's bound to be a great show!"

Sakura's smile tightened. It would be a great show, indeed. Especially if the man to whom she'd paid to sabotage Senor Francesco's flight had not done his job.

The thought damped the edges of her excitement, and Sakura glanced at the Crystal Palace and at the last rays of the sun that were turning the glass structure to orange fire. It would be dark enough to begin the show soon, and she excused herself, ignoring Rui's questions and at the same time she headed toward the building, her eyes searching for the slender wire and the block that been put on it ten feet or so above the ground that would bring Senor Francesco's flight—and Syaoran's dreams of a jubilee contract—to a screaming halt.

Syaoran's workmen knew her, and Sakura had no trouble at all making her way over to where they were getting ready for the show, carefully inserting the flame cases into their mortars. A man or two stopped long enough to bow or nod a hello, and the fact that she heard them whispering behind her back about 'that Kinomoto woman and what she might want and why she was 'ere distractin' Li-san when he had such important work to do' did not concern her in the least. She knew Syaoran had to be busy with preparations for the show, just as she was before every production, and with any luck, she wouldn't see him or Hiro Takumi, his assistant, or the incredible Senor Francesco at all.

But it seemed that wishing for luck and getting it were two different things.

There was a makeshift tent set up at the side of the building for any use by the workmen, and Sakura rounded it and crashed full force into what looked to be a tall, broad, man-shaped looking glass.

Sakura lost her balance. She might have gone down in a heap if the man she knew must be Senor Francesco hadn't reacted so quickly. In an instant he had his arms around her to steady her. The breath rushed out of her lungs, and she felt herself lifted up off her feet. The next thing she knew, her hat was down around her eyes and both her hat and her nose, were pressed flat against Francesco's odd-feeling, strange-smelling, light-reflecting suit.

"Thank…" Sakura struggled for a breath. Senor Francesco's arms were tight around her, and she attempted to lift her head. "Thank you," she said. "I'm fine. Really. You can let go of me now." But instead of releasing her, Francesco brought one had up to the back of her head and clasped her even close. "Senor!" Sakura squirmed in his iron grip. "I'm fine now."

"_Si, Si._ Senor Francesco, he knows this. He is so sorry!" Francesco's voice was a strange combination of Italian accent and garbled words. It was muffled, or perhaps it only sounded so because his hand cradled Sakura's head and his thumb was against her ear.

"But, Senor…" Sakura managed to turn her head so that her cheek, instead of her nose was against his chest. It didn't help much. Her hat was hopelessly crushed. The brim blinded her. "Senor, really, you don't have to hold me…so…tightly." Again she tried to squirm out of his arms, and again the only thing consequence of her action was that Francesco tightened his hold. One arm still clamped around her waist, he let his other hand drift over her hair.

The action was simple enough, and brazen beyond belief, yet it had a curious effect on Sakura. Warmth heated her blood and she held her breath, bracing herself, but she wasn't sure if it was against the feeling, or against the likelihood that all too soon it might be over.

Whatever the feeling, Francesco felt it too. She could tell as much from his sudden intake of breath and the subtle change in the pressure of his arms around her. He softened his hold but the feeling still remained.

Magic.

It was the only thing that could account for the numbness that gripped Sakura's limbs and dulled her mind. There must surely be magic in Senor Francesco's hands. Or perhaps the magic was contained in the malodorous suit. It was the only reason Sakura relaxed against him. The only thing that made her bold enough to skim her hands over his well-muscled chest.

A strangely _familiar-feeling_ well-muscled chest.

This time when Sakura froze, it had nothing at all to do with magic. An impossible notion sprang up in her head, and suspicions streaked through her like rocket fire.

She glided her hand over Francesco's broad shoulders, and her suspicions grew. They were shoulders she had never been able to get out of her mind. She trailed her hands over his chest, and her suspicions intensified. Her fingertips remembered every contour, every muscle. In the skin-tight suit, every inch of the good Senor's body was well defined, and looking past the flattened brim of her hat, Sakura glanced down. There were certain parts of a certain man she would never forget—no matter how much she tried—and Sakura's suspicions were confirmed.

Her hand still flat, she pushed away from the light-reflecting suit and the man she's thought was the great Italian daredevil. "Senor Francesco, I presume?" she yanked her hat off and set it flying.

She'd been right about the suit, she thought, looking up and down at the man in the curious creation. It did show every inch of its wearer's body to best advantage. But right now every inch of its wearer's body was not what Sakura wanted to think about. She forced her gaze up over his chest, past the shoulders.

Amber eyes blazed down at her.

"Damn! You weren't supposed to know it was me!" Just as quickly, Syaoran recovered and gave her a bow as exaggerated as the Italian accent he slipped into. "_Si, Si._ It is I, Senor Francesco. You are looking for me, yes?"

"No!" Sakura stepped back, out of reach of Syaoran's arms and downwind from the odd-smelling suit. "Why are you dressed like that?" she asked. "Where is the real Senor Francesco?"

"It's me." Syaoran bowed to her in a very continental gesture. Just as quickly a cocky smile lit his face. "You don't think I'd ask anyone else to perform this fool stunt, do you? He asked. "I'll be lucky if I don't break my head open!"

"You're Senor Francesco?" Sakura looked at him in wonder. "You can't be!"

"You are surprised?" Again the accent. As heavy as it was spurious. In Sakura's hurry to get rid of her ruined hat, she'd loosened a curl over her right ear, and Syaoran wound it around his finger and tucked it behind her ear. "Ah, Ying Fa." The name escaped him on the end of a long, soft breath. "You didn't seem so reluctant to believe Senor Francesco when his arms were around you. You didn't mind that very much, I don't think. You maybe even enjoyed the feel of his embrace, the heat of his touch." He moved a step closer. "The warmth of his body against yours."

Sakura swallowed hard. "I was light-headed. From bumping into you. That's the only thing that might explain…"

Her explanation was interrupted by Syaoran's gentle laugh. "Yeah," he said, very much Li Syaoran again. "I was a bit light-headed myself. Otherwise I would have never dared to get so close. You might have taken my head off!"

"I'm surprised to hear you're sensible enough to realize it." There was a buzzing in her ears that Sakura could not account for, and she stepped back, away from Syaoran's disturbing nearness and the uncomfortable feeling that was growing somewhere between her heart and her stomach. She smoothed her skirt. "You can't be the great Italian daredevil," she told him. "It isn't possible. You're not going to—" Against her better judgment, she looked back over her shoulder toward the sixty-foot tower. "You're not going to go sliding down that thin little wire, are you?"

"Oh, you know about that, do you?" Syaoran didn't look upset or surprised. He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "I heard there was a woman hanging around here this week. I thought it might be you. Jealous?"

"Of you?" The idea was preposterous. Sakura clicked her tongue.

"Of my effect. Imagine it, Sakura. Not one, not two, not even three, but twelve two-hundred-and sixteen-calibre rockets!" Sakura made a mental note to use sixteen large rockets in her next show.

"They'll blast off in quick succession," Syaoran continued, oblivious to the thoughts swirling through her head. "And rise to a height of two hundred feet in six seconds. Four blasts of red. Four ore green. And then the purple."

On word cut through Sakura's thoughts. "_Purple_?" Her throat went dry. The chemicals used to create purple fireworks were among the most dangerous and volatile. The very thought of Syaoran being so near them when their bursting charged went off made the small hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Not that she was about to let him know it.

She turned away, disguising her uneasiness by glancing toward where the work crew was still busy with shells and mortars. "Don't tell me you were stupid enough to mix sulphide of copper with a chlorate. You know how unstable those compounds are. If you're up there on top of that tower with—"

Syaoran leaned over so that they were nose to nose.

"Worried?"

Is that what the feeling down deep in the pit of her stomach was? Sakura considered the thought, and then she discarded it. She started over Syaoran's left shoulder to where the sun was about to slip over the far horizon. "Of course I'm not worried. Not about you."

"Are you sure? It's a very long way up." One hand up to shield his eyes, he gave the tower and exaggerated look. "Something could go wrong with the wire, and I could come crashing down. It wasn't too many minutes ago that you showed you were more than interested in Senor Francesco's body. You wouldn't want to see it damaged, would you?"

"Hardly interested." She corrected him before the wrong ideas he already had could take further shape in his mind. "Light-headed. Remember?" Sakura turned away. "I care about Senor Francesco as much as I care about you."

"That little, huh? Alright then. If not damaged, what about incinerated?" he leaned over, his chin brushing her shoulder, his lips grazing her ear. "You wouldn't want to see me incinerated, would you?"

It was on the tip of Sakura's tongue to tell him it would just be retribution. It would offer some redress for the fact that the whisper of his lips against her ear was causing an odd, burning sensation all through her. She decided against mentioning it. "You might as well be incinerated now," she told him instead. "You will be sooner or later. Take my word for it, Li Syaoran, with your reputation; you'll eventually burn in hell."

Syaoran threw back his head and laughed. "You know, Sakura, you're so damned sure of yourself, I almost believed you." He stepped around her, adjusting the close-fitting suit. "Heaven or hell, I'll find out soon enough." He, too, looked to where the sun had all but vanished, and for a second his expression sobered. A flicker of doubt darkened his eyes.

Sakura had no intention of responding to the look. She didn't even realize she had until she's already taken a step toward him, and by then it was too late. Syaoran was too canny not to notice her impulsive move. And far too cocky not to make something of it, if only she gave him the chance.

Before he could, Sakura stuck out her hand. "Then I'll say good-bye and get back to where Rui is waiting for me," she said. "I would say good luck, but of course you know I don't mean it."

Syaoran looked at her hand and, apparently deciding she was not laying a trap, he shook it rather formally. "Of course. No more than I wish you luck with that extravaganza you're staging at Tomoeda. Its war, Sakura. War between us." She gave him a frosty smile, a perfect reflection of the chill that settled in her stomach at his words. "It always has been."

"Always?" The question was as soft as the long shadows that spread their fingers between them and as painful as the ache of regret that stabbed Sakura's heart. "I remember a time or two—"

"I don't." She didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to remember. As quickly as she could, Sakura pulled her hand to her side. "And my memory was always better than yours."

"Your memory, yeah, but your ability to tell believable lies leaves a great deal to be desired." Syaoran closed the distance between them. He raised one hand, ready to touch her cheek, and Sakura had the absurd notion that he was about to kiss her.

Panic churned through her. It mingled with the heat that spread through her blood, and fused with the lengthening shadow of the impossibly tall tower, and the smell of Syaoran's strange suit and the stunning thought that if he did—if he kissed her—she wasn't at all sure how she would respond.

The evening air was ripped by the blast of a trumpet, and Syaoran straightened and backed away. "That's my cue," he said. "I need to get up to the tower." There was nothing she could say. Sakura turned to walk away.

"Sakura?"

At the sound of Syaoran's voice she whirled to find him watching her carefully.

"It's not the most idiotic thing I've ever done," he admitted with another look at the tower and a wry, all too engaging grin. "But it's close. I may be sacrificing my life for the sake of my art! The least you can do is kiss me good-bye."

"No." Sakura answered automatically, before she had the chance to say something she knew she would regret for the rest of her life. "You're being a drama queen, and besides, I can't imagine why you would want a kiss from me. I thought you thought I was hard-headed and stubborn and too outspoken."

"And difficult and ambitious and irritation, yeah. But it would be a pity to have to stare death in the face without the taste of you on my lips."

He was surely teasing her. Sakura knew that as well as she knew her own name. He didn't mean a word of what he had said about facing death. He didn't care if she allowed him to kiss her. He couldn't. Not anymore.

"You're ridiculous." She managed to sound flippant, but just barely. "The last thing you want from me is a kiss." He had no choice but to agree. It was the only rational response.

But Sakura should have known better. If she said the sky was blue, Syaoran would certainly say it was green. If she said the atmosphere was suddenly so warm as to make breathing quite impossible, he would no doubt comment about how pleasant the evening had turned.

A smile slid from his mouth to his eyes. "No, the first thing I want from you is a kiss."

Honeyed words. And intentions that were just as treacherous. Sakura reminded herself of as much at the same time she pressed a hand to her heart, hoping to stop its surprising, crushing beat. "You better get to your tower, Senor Francesco," she told him. "The crowd is waiting."

Syaoran moved a step closer. His words brushed her lips. "And if I say let them wait?"

"You won't. Not even for me." The truth of her words settled inside Sakura and the heat in her veins evaporated. "Especially not for me. Fujitaka-san is here. The jubilee contract is at stake. So is your reputation and your chance to make Li Industry respectable again. I've learned my lesson, Syaoran. I know when you have to choose between me and fireworks, it's the fireworks that win every time."

"And you don't feel the same way?" Syaoran's expression was transformed by complete exasperation. His question boomed above the sound of a second trumpet blast. He backed away. "Damn it, Sakura, don't make me out to be the villain. You were just as responsible for that fiasco we called a relationship as I was. And you are the one who left me waiting—"

"Me? I never left you waiting. You left me waiting. To your tower, Senor Francesco, and I hope you are incinerated. You are an awful man! You're hard-headed and incorrigible and—"

"And difficult and ambitious and irritating, just like you." Syaoran backed away, shaking his head. "But you'd be heartbroken if I went up in flames with the rockets."

"I wouldn't. I wouldn't give a fuck." Syaoran was too far away to hear her mumbled reply, but Sakura didn't care. She watched him walk away toward the tower, toward certain danger and very probable harm, and she listened as her own last words echoed all around her, louder even than the cheers.

And she knew deep down inside where she kept the emotions she refused to bring out and examine in the light of day that Syaoran was right about one thing.

She was a terrible liar.

* * *

He deserved to be incinerated.

It was only fitting that he burned to cinders, or dashed to the ground at the end of the wire, or trampled by the crowd when they learned that the Italian daredevil they had paid their hard-earned money to see was really an imposter.

It was the only just punishment for his stupidity.

Pivoting right and left, Syaoran waved to the crowd. "_Grazie. Grazie._" He smiled and bowed, all the while cursing himself. He had done some idiotic things in his life—this stunt was as fine as example as any—but none more foolish than flirting with Sakura. Flirting with disaster. How could he have been such an idiot? How could he have been so asinine as to succumb to Sakura's dubious charms?

He'd asked her for a kiss!

Hell, if that wasn't enough to prove him a madman, nothing was. He'd been careless enough to let her know how eager he was to kiss her, and jackass enough to be disappointed when she'd refused.

For that he deserved more than incineration. He deserved a good, swift kick in the pants.

Biting off a sting of profanities that would surely give him away as a citizen of Japan, Syaoran made a great show of stopping at the main entrance to the Crystal Palace and gesturing with a flourish towards the tower. The crowd responded just as he hoped. They cheered in approval. They yelled in encouragement. They applauded and waved and chanted his name, "Senor Francesco! Senor Francesco!"

With a final wave Syaoran went into the building. "Fucking suit!" He tugged at the spot over his stomach where the light-reflecting suit squeezed his muscles. "Everything ready?" he asked Hiro Takumi.

His assistant nodded. "Yeah. Everything is set, boss." He stepped aside and allowed Syaoran into the caged elevator that would whisk them to the top of the structure. "Only if you don't mind me sayin' so, you don't look ready."

"I don't?" Syaoran looked down at the ridiculous suit that covered him from head to toe. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Not the suit I'm talkin' about." Takumi rubbed one finger under his nose. "It's that Kinomoto woman. Saw her talkin' to you. She ain't good for you, if you take my meanin'. There. I've said it straight out. I don't trust that woman."

"You don't think we can trust Sakura?" The very idea was preposterous. Syaoran laughed. "Of course we can trust Sakura. Just because she abandoned me on the day of our—" It wasn't something he wanted to think about. Not now. With a twitch of his shoulders, Syaoran cast the thought aside and started again.

"Just because she tried to sabotage the fireworks fountain at the—" Something else he didn't want to think about. Syaoran shook the words away.

"Just because I managed to get the best of her at the Motoike and humiliate her in front of half of Tokyo—"

The elevator jerked to a halt, and Takumi opened the grill door. Syaoran stood still. "You don't think she's the kind of woman who holds a grudge, do you?" he asked. Takumi had the good sense not to answer.

It didn't matter. Syaoran didn't need Takumi's answer. The thought of how spiteful Sakura might or might not be steeled squarely in his stomach, right where the suit pinched. Sakura might be devious and conniving. She might be ambitious and uncompromising and even a little cunning, but she would never do anything to sabotage a show as intricate and dangerous as this.

Would she?

The moment Syaoran stepped out of the elevator and onto the roof, he knew it hardly mattered. Cheers rose around the tower like thunder. On all sides of him and down below, he could see that his workers already had their batons lit, ready to touch them to the hundreds of fuses on the hundreds of fireworks that would serve to etch his name in the annals of fireworks history in pure, bright flame. All that remained was for Senor Francesco to stride out on the roof and begin his decent.

And if he didn't?

Syaoran glanced down at the sea of upturned faces. He wondered where in the crowd Sakura might be and what she was thinking and what she might be waiting to see happen.

And he knew that if he hesitated, she would win.

He drew in a long breath and marched forward, signalling his crew, and while the crowd was distracted by the first maroon that went up and exploded over head with an authoritative _bang_, he slipped into the harness he would ride all the way to the ground.

He was as ready as he would ever be.

The first fuses were lit, and Syaoran herd the _harrumph_ of the shells coming out of their mortars. It was a sound he'd always liked, a small, comforting noise, rather like the purr of a cat. He knew better than to be fooled. Once the shells were catapulted into the air, the launching site trembled, quite enough to remind him of the forces involved in igniting small containers filled with combustible chemicals and gunpowder.

Acrid smell filled the air and the fist of the shells broke directly above him. Syaoran threw out his arms and jumped into the platform that had been constructed atop the tower, waiting while Takumi attached the harness to the wire.

"Ready, boss?" Takumi screamed above the explosions and the explosive cheers of the crowd. Syaoran's suit caught the red light. It reflected it back and damn, if he didn't look as if he was made of fire!

He was ready.

Exhilaration bubbled through Syaoran's veins, nearly muzzling the niggling voices of doubt and suspicion that filled his head.

Where was Sakura?

As if he might actually see her there, he glanced down at the crowd.

What was she doing? What was she waiting to see happen?

The green rockets burst overhead, and Syaoran poised himself on the edge of the platform, waiting for the purple rockets, his signal to propel himself out into the night where nothing would hold him up at all but the thin wire and his own ambitions.

Where was Sakura?

The sky above Syaoran lit with purple, and again the thoughts whirled in his head.

What was she doing? What was she waiting to see happen?

It didn't matter now.

Syaoran hurtled down the wire, headed for the ground at breakneck speed. And even with the wind ripping at his face and the heat of the fireworks that were bursting all around him, all he could wonder was what might happen to him on the way down and if he would live to touch the earth again.

"Damn it, Sakura!" he yelled, and his voice trailed behind him like the flaming tails of the rockets that burst all around. "This was supposed to be fun!"

* * *

"Damn it, Sakura! You can't leave me hanging up here all night!"

"Can't I?" Sakura backed up a step, allowing herself a better look at Syaoran. The light-reflecting suit was working admirably. Syaoran's body was ablaze with the reflected colours of the fireworks that burst overhead. Blinding white. Flashing red. Blue and gold and purple. But even the glittering lights were not enough to distract from the fact that his decent had been less that a success. Poor Senor Francesco had never made it all the way down to the ground. He was hooked into the harness that enveloped his shoulders and hitched under his arms. And he was dangling…

She bit her lower lip and calculated the distance. Considering the fact that the stop on the wire was approximately ten feet above the ground. After figuring Syaoran's height into the equation. And the extra few inches added by the length of the harness…

He was dangling a little less than four feet above the ground, she decided. Not enough to put him in any real danger. Just enough to be embarrassing.

As she watched, Syaoran tried again to free himself. He kicked his feet and flailed his arms. It didn't do any good; he simply swung back and forth. It was not the result he'd wanted, and he made his opinion of the whole thing more than clear by letting out a long and heartfelt string of invective.

All to no avail. He was well and truly stuck.

Sakura cupped one hand to her mouth and yelled to him above the sounds of the fireworks that popped high above their heads. "You may have to stay there all night. Your crew is quite busy at the moment. I doubt they have time to rescue you."

"My crew." Syaoran's eyes flashed in a flame that had nothing to do with the fireworks or the light-reflecting suit. "When I find the man who cooperated with you on this little scheme, I'll blacken both his eyes, and then I'll fire his ass!"

Sakura shrugged. Rather nonchalantly, she thought. "No need," she said. "I've already hired him for my crew. You should pay your workers better, Syaoran. Then they wouldn't be so tempted to earn extra cash."

"Money? Damn!" Syaoran's voice was louder even than the noise around them. The crowd had been kept back a reasonable and safe distance from the mortars where the fireworks were launched, and Sakura glanced that way. She was more than pleased to see that most of them weren't watching the fireworks at all. They were staring at the unfortunate daredevil who was hanging before them like a trussed goose, swearing like a sailor.

"Careful, Francesco," she warned, and wagged one finger for emphasis. "Your command of the language will surely give you away. You wouldn't want the audience to know you're an imposter, would you?"

"As if I care!" Syaoran tried once more to kick and, obviously deciding it was getting him nowhere at all, he gave up the fight. Instead, he concentrated all his energies on Sakura. The scowl he sent her way might have intimidated a lesser woman. It cheered Sakura to no end.

A smile on her lips and her head tipped, she strolled nearer, looking him up and down in that careful, critical sort of way one judged livestock at a country fair. "It's a good thing I didn't waste a kiss," she told him. "It seems you didn't die, after all."

"I might have," he was boastful to no end, and Sakura shook her head, amazed but not at all surprised. "I might have been incinerated. Or worse."

"Really?" she circled him slowly, glancing up and down, and when she was directly behind him, he craned his neck and did his best to look around the harness and over his shoulder to see what she was doing.

Sakura pretended not to notice. She took her time, ticking off his attributes one by one. Fine, long legs. Muscular. His backside…she allowed herself to assess that portion of his anatomy and decided that in spite of its particular smell, the skin-tight suit did have some advantages.

She might have continued with her musing for quite some time had not and especially loud firework went off above her. Sakura's bone rattled. She shifted her gaze from Syaoran to the orange chrysanthemum pattern high above her head. Bits of burnt shell casings drifted down on her, and smoke collected near the ground and drifted all around like morning fog. She breathed in the familiar scent of gunpowder and continued her perusal, coming back around to stop directly in front of Syaoran.

It was not a bad angle from which to view a man in a skin-tight suit.

The thought might have caught Sakura by surprise, but there was no denying it. With Syaoran hanging the way he was, at just the right height and just the right tilt, it was indeed and interesting angle from which to assess him.

Holding her thoughts behind a look of supreme concentration, Sakura tapped one finger against her lips. She knew Syaoran was looking down at her and that his look demanded attention, but she refused to shift her gaze.

"You don't look at all incinerated to me," she told him. "It seems as if everything is…" she glanced up, her eyes wide and as innocent as could be."Everything seems to be right where it's supposed to be."

His eyes sparkled, and this time it wasn't with irritation. It might have been a reflection of the silver firework that had just snaked through the sky. Or perhaps the look was caused by some emotion; one Sakura didn't have time to try to name.

"Ah, but is everything in working order?" Syaoran grinned down at her. "Maybe," he suggested, "you should get closer and make sure."

"I would rather not, thank you." Sakura stepped back to emphasize the point and to hide the blush she was afraid had crept into her cheeks. "I do believe I will wish you a good night instead." She had designed her departure to be swift and sure. It might have been had not another firework burst overhead.

She recognized it immediately.

Nitrate of copper. Verdigris. Aluminium.

She knew the recipe by heart.

The right combination of chemicals and the proper bursting charge. It was all so sterile. So technical. So precise. And just when those chemicals were mixed correctly…when they were ignited and burst from their flame case…

Sakura let out a long sigh.

High above crystal palace, green flame spread as if by magic, until the entire sky above them was its palette and the glass building the mirror that reflected its brilliance. The burn was soft around the edges, an ethereal colour that intensified toward the centre where the shell had burst. At the very heart of the firework, the colour was the pure green of a jewel, bright and clear. It hovered in the air one second, two, three, before it swirled and spread, raining from the sky in curls of emerald mist.

_Emerald Mist_

The words soured inside Sakura's head.

It was her recipe. Her firework. And she listened to the audience applaud and cheer and gasp at the sheer marvel of it, and she wondered if Syaoran had cheered as loudly four years ago when he'd managed to obtain the formula without the inconvenience of marrying Sakura.

The thought tempered the edges of her triumph, and when she looked at Syaoran again, she found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't manage a smile. "I do hope they rescue you by morning," she said. She wasn't at all sure she meant it, and the way she bit off the words told him as much. "It can get quite chilly here, I'm told, and if you freeze, well…" She made a gesture that relieved her of all responsibility as clearly as did the fact that she turned her back on Syaoran. "Even if there are certain parts of you that are in working order, I doubt they would be after a good freeze."

"You could warm them for me!"

She refused to rise to the bait or acknowledge the way her heart drummed at the thought.

"You could get me down off this fucking thing," Syaoran called after her. "And I could get out of this damned stinking suit and for that matter; you could get out of that damned prim and proper dress of yours—"

He tried his best to persuade her. Or perhaps unnerve her. Sakura told herself it didn't matter which. There wasn't anything in the world that could make her change the way she felt about Syaoran.

She was still telling herself that as she walked away.

* * *

Hehe hoped that was good for you all :)

Just to let you know, you can find updates for all my stories on my profile page in case you need to know when i will next update.

Love you all xx


	9. Revenge

Hey hey hey. So here is Chapter 9 of this story and i know its really late but i have been really busy and not really had a lot of time to sort this out. Anyways, please enjoy and let me know what you think.

* * *

**Chapter 9  
**_Revenge_

Funny, she'd always thought that triumph would feel more…well, triumphant. Sakura chewed over the thought along with the piece of toast she was nibbling half-heartedly.

There was no doubt at all that last night had been a triumph. She had effectively destroyed Syaoran's show. She had embarrassed him in front of thousands of people, and if the look on Fujitaka-san's face as she passed him when she left the grounds meant anything, she had thrown a wrench into Syaoran's plans for whisking the Jubilee contract from under her nose.

Yet, she didn't feel triumphant, and the realization disturbed her because she didn't understand it. After all, she'd gotten exactly what she wanted. She'd foiled Li Syaoran. She'd paid him back from everything he'd ever done to her: the humiliation she'd suffered at the Motoike. His theft of the _Emerald Mist_ formula. The day he never arrived at the church for their wedding.

And for the inexplicable fact that in spite of it all, each time she saw him of late, her heart beat a little faster and every inch of her body tingled.

Alarmed by the very thought, and more than a little disgusted with herself, Sakura pushed away from the table. She had many preparations to make for Tomoyo and Eriol's masquerade ball and she decided in an instant that she would spend the day in the country. She would go Narita, two hours outside of Tokyo, to the factory where Kinomoto Corporation fireworks were produced.

Striding into the passageway, she resolved to set out immediately and spend the day up to her elbows in oxidizer and colouring agent. She would help in the cutting room, where the chemicals were mixed and pounded into the dough that made the exploding stars. She would assist in the spiking room, where the stars were loaded into the cardboard breaks. Maybe she might even spend an hour or two in the black powder house.

_Yes._ Sakura smiled a smile completely lacking humour.

A great deal of good, black gunpowder. Exactly what she needed to smother her disquieting thoughts of Syaoran.

She was thinking about the timetables for the trains to Narita when she rounded the corner and turned into the main foyer—just in time to see two strange men carrying a large floor clock out the front door.

"Hey! You there!" Sakura called out to them, but the men didn't stop. They went right on with what they were doing, inching the bulky clock out of the house. After a moment she realized why they hadn't listened when she called to them. Touya was there as well. He was standing against the far wall, his hands in his pockets, clearly directing the operation.

"Touya, what are they doing?" Sakura hurried over to where her brother was hunched against the wall. She stabbed a finger over her shoulder toward the men and the clock. "That's Daddy's clock. Where are they talking Daddy's clock?"

"It's not Dad's anymore." Touya refused to look at her. His eyes as flat as his voice, he watched the men, and when they were finally out the front door, he turned and walked into the living room. Sakura followed right behind.

"Of course it's Daddy's clock," she said. She would recognize the clock anywhere. It was the mahogany one that had until now stood in the corner of the library. The clock that played the Westminster chimes every hour. It had a broad bass face plate and fat cherubs that stood guard over it, one upon each of its four finials. It was her favourite. "It's the clock that Daddy got from Grandpa as a gift when he married Mom." She reminded her brother. "It will always be Daddy's clock. Touya, where are they talking it?"

He didn't answer her but instead turned towards the windows and pushed the curtains aside. Sakura looked that way too. She was just in time to see the two men clump down the front steps and load the clock into the truck. They snapped closed the doors on the back of the truck and jumped into the driver seat, and the bigger of the two started the engine and the truck rumbled away down the street.

"Touya?" Sakura's voice was small and rounded, even to her, as if it was poised precariously on the edge of tears. She refused to let them fall, just as she refused to let her brother know that the fact that him ignoring her was just as painful as seeing the clock carted away. "Touya that was Daddy's clock."

Touya's eyes wavered and darkened. He let go of the curtains, and they swung back into place. "It's not Dad's anymore," he said, turning from the window. "It belongs to someone else now."

"You _sold_ Daddy's clock?" It was absurd. Impossible. So impossible that it didn't take Sakura long to figure the thing out. She dropped into the nearest chair. "You gambled it away!"

If the accusation did nothing else, it at least caught Touya's attention. For the first time he looked directly at her and Sakura realized that he was no more pleased with the situation than she was. There were dark rings around Touya's eyes and his face was ashen, as if he'd been awake all night, worried and restless.

Sakura might have felt sorry for him, she might even have done her best to understand, if he hadn't tried to make excuses. He lifted his shoulders, the movement more defensive than it was indifferent. "Don't be silly. I didn't exactly gamble the clock away. I know better than that. And who in their right mind would accept a clock as a wager? But I did need to borrow some money to get into last night's game. And when I lost…"

The rest of the story was all too clear. Sakura knew his explanation was bound to do nothing more than aggravate an already infuriating situation and she waved it away with an impatient gesture. "You should know better, Touya. You have no better luck with cards than you do with women." It was cruel but true, and the accusation hit its mark. Touya bit his lower lip, holding in the indignity he must surely have left. He could not so easily disguise the fact that his hands shook and that his chest rose and fell to a ragged rhythm.

Sakura's heart broke at the sight. "Sorry." She got up from her chair and went to him. "I didn't mean it that way, you know I didn't."

He turned away from her. "Of course you did. And why shouldn't you? It's true." He kept his back to her, controlling his emotions, and when he was certain he could face her without losing his composure, he turned. "It wasn't my fault."

Sakura had expected as much from him. With one finger on each hand she massaged her temples, willing away the tension that had collected there. "It's never you fault," she told him sarcastically. "There's always someone else who—" The careful face he had put on cracked, and Touya slapped on hand against the top of the nearest table. "I don't need to be lectured like a little kid!"

"Then maybe you better stop acting like one." Sakura's words crackled throughout the air. "It's time you took responsibility for you actions, Touya."

"I am talking responsibility." His voice rose, matching hers. He raked a hand through his hair, leaving it standing in every direction. "Believe it or not, I'm being careful about who I borrow money from. It's easy enough to fall in with the wrong crowd, I can tell you that much. I've been careful about that, Sakura. I am paying my debts. And if that means we have to lose every piece of furniture in the house—"

Sakura grumbled in frustration, "The next thing you know, you'll be wagering the company."

As quickly as it came, Touya's anger ebbed. His eyes stilled. His face grew solemn. He reached out a hand and touched it briefly to Sakura's cheek. "That would hurt you too much, wouldn't it?" She couldn't find the words to answer. She nodded instead.

"Yeah," he went on, and the words were as heavy as if they were crowded in his throat. "I know it would, but trust me, Sakura, I wouldn't hurt you for the world. I just can't seem to keep myself from the gaming table, no matter how hard I try. I tell myself that tonight will be my last night. My last game of cards. But the next night, and the next, and the next after that—"

"It's okay." Sakura couldn't help but be moved. She grabbed Touya's hand and held it tightly. "You don't need to explain. Not to me."

"But I do!" As if her fingers were on fire, Touya pulled his hand away. "We're in a terrible mess and—"

"And it's nothing we can't take care of. As long as we're honest with each other. As long as you tell me what's going on. Who gave you the money?"

"What's going on?" With his hair standing on end and his eyes wide, Touya looked more than ever like a hare startled from the underbrush. "No." he shook his head, and still shaking it, he headed for the door. "I'll take care of it, I promise, Sakura. I don't know what I'll do, but somehow I'll take care of it all."

"So, are you happy with Nina?"

"Happy? How can a guy not be happy with Nina? She's beautiful and thank God, she's not too smart. She doesn't ask for nearly as much as some of the others of her kind, and she is very, very accommodating."

It wasn't often that Ashikaga Akito rhapsodized about anything except pointless political causes, and listening to him, Syaoran laughed. He clapped his friend on the shoulder. "I'm glad she's treating you so well."

"Then you don't mind?" Akito asked the question, but didn't look certain he wanted to know the truth. He held his breath and waited for Syaoran's answer. Syaoran didn't hesitate to provide him with it. "Of course I don't mind. Why would I?"

Although Syaoran was accepted into polite society, he was, for all intents and purposes, a tradesman. Akito was not. He had relations who were powerful—though for the life of him, Syaoran could never remember who they were—and he had been educated at all the best schools. He knew enough to look discomfited, and Syaoran might have thought less of him for it if he hadn't known the look was genuine.

"Well, I thought that you and Nina were…" For all his sophistication, Akito was not nearly as open about his thoughts and feelings as were other people that Syaoran knew. "Well, you know what I mean. Nina thinks the world of you, and I thought you two were—"

"No." Syaoran jumped in with his answer a little too quickly, but Akito had the good grace to pretend not to notice. "I have other things to think about on this trip to Tomoeda. Women are not on the menu. At least not until I've got that Jubilee contract in hand."

At least not women like Nina.

Syaoran might have had an easier time casting the thought aside if every muscle in his body didn't ache like hell. He gritted his teeth, and when he saw that he'd put Akito fears to rest, he smiled. "I should have introduced you and Nina a long time ago. I should have known she was the kind of women who could keep you satisfied."

"Indeed!" Akito scratched one finger behind his ear. For all his rhetoric about the equality of classes, Akito was a gentleman and Nina was not the kind of woman that gentlemen fell in love with. But Akito was bewitched enough but the delightful Nina to have that slightly dazed look in his eyes that all men got when they were in the early throes of infatuation. He grinned a good deal and laughed when there wasn't anything funny, and if Syaoran wasn't careful, he knew Akito would soon be lecturing _him_ about the importance of a little less work in his life and a lot more pleasure.

Pleasure in the form of women.

Akito grinned. "And what kind of women would keep you satisfied, Syaoran?"

Syaoran snorted. "Not the one you're thinking of." It was too early in the morning for a drink, but he was tempted to pour one nonetheless. One glass for Akito. Then the rest of bottle for him. At least it might change the subject. But it would do nothing to cool the burn of anger in Syaoran's throat.

"In case you haven't heard, I was made the laughingstock of Tokyo last night. Thanks to the lady you're thinking of." He went as far as the other side of the room, then thought better of the idea and bypassed the whiskey bottle. He turned and leaned back against the marble and rosewood sideboard, absently rubbing the sore muscles in his left shoulder with his right hand. "She tried to kill me!"

"And nearly succeeded, if the stories I've heard are true!" Akito laughed even though there wasn't anything funny about the situation.

"Like laundry on a clothesline."

Syaoran tried to shake his head. He might have succeeded if the muscles in his neck weren't so sore. He winced and grumbled and shot Akito an acid look. "That's exactly what I looked like. Laundry on a clothesline. I was just hanging out there for the whole wide world to see. And Sakura?" Syaoran snorted. It was getting to be a habit. "Sakura didn't give a damn. She went on her way happily while I hung there for the better part of an hour. I might have died!"

"Of embarrassment, maybe." Akito grinned. Again. "You have to admit, Syaoran, you brought it all on yourself. If you hadn't embarrassed her at the Motoike—"

It was too much to think that Akito would actually believe such nonsense. Syaoran shot forward. "If she hadn't shown up at the Motoike to sabotage my work, you mean. I'm not the one who started this thing."

But he had tried to continue it. He'd teased her. And tempted her. He'd tried his best to upend her but asking for a kiss.

Syaoran didn't mention any of that. It wasn't pertinent to the conversation. It wasn't anything Akito needed to know. And besides, Syaoran didn't want to think about it.

It had upended him as well.

Too uneasy to keep still, Syaoran did a turn around the room. His house in Tokyo was nothing like his home in Narita near his factory, and he vowed that as soon as the business off the masquerade ball was over, he would go to the country and spend more time away from the noise and dirt of the city. And his disturbing thought of Sakura.

He didn't mention that, either. There was no use mentioning anything sensible to a man who was a slave to love like Akito.

"You have to admit, Syaoran," Akito flopped onto the overstuffed chair and stuck his leg out in front of him. "Kinomoto-san's earned what little revenge she got last night. It was a subtle sort of vengeance. A clever thing for her to do."

"Yeah. Clever." It was Syaoran's turn to grin. "But we both just agreed that we don't like clever women."

"No." Akito caught him in the lie. He poked his thumb at his chest. "I said I didn't like clever women. You…" He jabbed a finger towards Syaoran. "You never agreed."

"Or disagreed." Syaoran didn't like the feeling of being put on trial in his own home. He clumped to the window and looked out on the traffic outside his house. "I do know that the sooner I've secured this Jubilee contract, the happier I'll be. Then maybe Sakura will leave me alone."

"Is that what you really want?" There was a note of amusement in Akito's voice that made the hairs on the back of Syaoran's neck rise in protest. "I'm pretty sure in saying that Kinomoto-san could make a man happy." His elbows on his knees, Akito leaned forward and dangled the worlds like they were tempting worms and Syaoran the fish.

"I remember there was a time when she made you very happy."

"Ancient history." Syaoran discarded the theory with an impatient motion of one hand. "And you are remembering it wrong. I wasn't happy. I was—"

"Content?"

"Who could be content with a termagant like Sakura?"

"Satisfied, then."

"Hah!"

"Energized? Optimistic?"

Akito's appraisal was not worthy of a comment, but that had never stopped Syaoran before. He was about to let his friend know what he thought of his theories when there was a tap on the door. After the requisite polite few seconds, the door snapped open and Wei, the butler, stepped inside. "There is a man at the door, Li-san. Someone not from polite society, I assure you." With a decorous lift of his upper lip, Wei made it all too clear what he thought of the visitor's unfortunate state. "He says he's the tailor you hired and that to address him as such."

"Ah!" Syaoran's mood brightened immediately, not only because of the tailor's arrival but because it brought about a welcome end to Akito's badgering. He sent Wei to fetch the Tailor and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Stay," he told Akito when he made a move to take his leave. "And see how 'energized' Sakura makes me feel."

Wei returned in less than a minute with the tailor in tow. Syaoran had met the fellow twice before, and he wasn't the lease bit surprised that he looked even more meek and mouse like here in the house than he did in his Kyoto tailor shop where he worked. The tailor toed the doorway, hat in hands. "Tailor!" Syaoran moved forward, talking the man's arms, he showed him father into the room. "Do you want something to drink?"

Tailor was a middle-aged man, a small man with gray eyes and hair of the same colour. He had hands as delicate as a woman's, and it was that, Syaoran was sure, which made so skilful with needle and thread, cloth and buttons. He ran his tongue over chalky lips. "Mighty early in the morning for that, sir," he said, but his gaze honed in instantly on the bottle on the sideboard.

"Never too early for friends to share a drink." Syaoran abandoned the tailor in the middle of the room and went to fix him a drink. He splashed a generous amount of liquor into the glass and handed into the man. "Now…" he watched while the tailor drank it down. "Tell me. Do you finally have news?"

"That I do." Tailor nodded, and the twinkle in his eyes and the sudden colour added to his cheeks by the liquor made him look like a gnome from a children's story. He pulled back his shoulders. "A prince, sir," he said, the pride of the accomplishment shining off every word. "That is my news for you. A prince."

It was an appealing notion, if somewhat romantic, and Syaoran turned it over in his head. A prince. It would play nicely into his plan. Nodding his approval of a job well done, he asked Tailor. "Can you duplicate the costume? Down to the last detail?"

"My eyes…" Tailor shook his head and sighed. "My eyes aren't as good as they once were," he said, but he didn't seem to be having any trouble seeing the whiskey bottle from where he stood. Syaoran poured another glass for the man and waited while he drank.

Tailor drank every last drop, and his confidence restored, his memory fortified, he smiled. "I do believe I can do it, sir." He looked Syaoran up and down. "You're taller than he is by a bit and broader in the chest too, if I'm not mistaken. But with one of them great masks and a wig—"

"You can get those for me as well?"

"Oh, yes, sir." His sprits bolstered by Syaoran's obvious approval, not to mention the courage of the bottle, Tailor beamed. "Same as for Hiragizawa Rui-sama. Down to the last detail. Only…" He cleared his throat and looked away, his sheepishness back now that he was forced to mention something so boorish as business.

"It's a complicated costume, sir. Lots of gold and even some lace. It may take a bit more, if you can see what I mean. More than we originally agreed."

Syaoran expected as much. He fished into his pocket and pulled out several notes. "Will this be enough to begin with?"

Tailor's eyes lit. As if he was afraid Syaoran might change his mind, he pocketed the money quickly and moved towards the door. "You'll have it on time, sir. Just as I promised. In plenty of time for the masquerade ball at the Hiragizawa estate in Tomoeda. And when I get done with you, sir…" Taylor paused and grinned, as if picturing the finished product. "Your own mothers won't be able to tell one apart from the other."

"What was that all about?" Akito's eyes were puzzled as he watched Tailor leave. "Why was that man jabbering about princes? And what did he mean that you'd have the same costume as Rui? What would be the purpose of that?"

The answer to his question was really quite simple.

"Revenge," Syaoran said. "Only this time Sakura is the one who will be taught a lesson."

"I see a scheme forming behind that think skull of yours, and I'm not sure I like it." Shaking his head in wonder, Akito hoisted himself out of his chair and headed for the door. "Whatever your plan, don't say it's all for revenge, Syaoran. You obviously thought of it long before last night or you wouldn't have made the tailor's acquaintance. What are you really trying to do?"

It was a question Syaoran was still asking himself after Akito was gone.

What was he trying to accomplish?

The question rattled through his head while he went over some paperwork, finished the pot of coffee he had Wei bring in, and prepared to go out to Motoike to check his fountain firework.

What was he trying to accomplish?

He was honest enough with himself to know that he'd told Akito the truth, or at least part of it.

Revenge. That was certainly one motivation. But he was too honest to deny that there was more to it than that.

His desire to avenge the humiliation Sakura had put him through had nothing at all to do with the burr of excitement that tingled through him when he thought about his plan. He would dress in the same costume as Hiragizawa Rui. He would invite Sakura to meet him in some secluded part of the house, or, better still, some shady hallow where it would be difficult for her to recognize him. He would find out exactly what the relationship was between Sakura and Rui. When they were to be married. How much she really loved him. He would find out all there was to know, and once and for all he would put his foolish imaginings about Sakura to rest. He would be a free man. Free of the fantasies that tickled his thoughts at the most inconvenient times. Free of the disturbing dreams that haunted his nights.

Of course, he might make it easier on himself and just ask Sakura.

Syaoran discarded the thought as quickly as it came.

He might ask Sakura what her relationship was with Rui. He might inquire as to the nature of Rui's intentions. And ask about Sakura's feelings for the man.

But that might lead Sakura to think that Syaoran cared, and that wasn't just preposterous, it was out of the question.

Besides, that wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Satisfied both with himself and with his plan, Syaoran started out for the Motoike, and in spite of the fact that his intentions were as firm as his resolutions, there was one other thought he couldn't seem to get out of his head.

Maybe he'd even be lucky enough to steal a kiss.

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So thats the end of that chapter. We are drawing closer to the end of the given chapters and soon you will be able to read my own chapters of this story. If im honest, im a little scared that i wont live up to expectations but im doing my best. I have now recieved the spoilers so hopefully they will help me along. Please continue to support me as you have.

Thanks a bunch!


	10. DoubleEdged Sword

OK, i just want to stress something here. I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON THIS STORY. Chapter 11 is already written up and ready to go but im worried i have neglected my other stories. Therefor, i wont be updating this story until my others have been sorted out. Im not sure how long that will take but please be patient because i have written more chapters so there will be more. Thanks for all your support.

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 10**  
_Double-edged sword_

"That's the last of them." Takeda Shinden, the chief of Sakura's work crew, crouched over the mortar that had been sunk into one of Tomoeda's pastures and checked the shell inside it. He nodded, satisfied. "All set to go," he told Sakura. "All we need is blessed darkness and fine, clear skies."

Sakura glanced up. Above her head the sky was a perfect sapphire bowl with not a cloud to mar its surface. "It looks as if the clear skies will be no trouble at all. The darkness isn't up to us," she reminded Takeda with a smile. "Another two hours ought to do it."

"And in another two hours they'll be ready as well." Takeda looked across the field to where Syaoran's crew was finishing its setup work. "They're a rowdy lot," he said and if the tone of his voice wasn't enough to let her know exactly what he thought of Li Industry, the look he shot their way certainly was. Takeda had been with Kinomoto Corporation as long as Sakura could remember, and he was not a man who kept his feelings or his opinions to himself. Especially opinions about fireworks.

"Settin' up like they was on a Sunday picnic. Don't they know this is serious work?"

Sakura didn't answer him. All firework crews knew their work was serious. They had to or they wouldn't be alive to do it. Syaoran's was no different, she supposed. She saw that they were being careful enough, even if they were a bit noisy.

As she watched, the two men who looked to be directing the setup work yelled to each other and waved to the rest of the crew. They gathered around the men, and for the first time Sakura noticed that there was something large and flat lying in the grass at the far end of the field.

"Lance work." She didn't need to tell Takeda. He knew the business as well as anyone. Lance works were frames made of cane and wood, and as Syaoran's crew hoisted theirs in the air and secured it all around, she saw that this one was no different from the rest. She knew it would be studded with the small, bright-burning firework called lances and that after the first one was lit, the others would catch one by one. From where she stood, she could get little sense of what the shape of the thing might be, but she knew that by the time all the lances were all burning; they would draw a firework picture in the sky.

Sakura's lips thinned. "He's up to something."

"Doesn't matter. Won't be nearly as good enough as ours." Takeda grinned. "We've got waterworks, don't forget."

Sakura hadn't forgotten. There was a reflecting lake to one side of Tomoyo's estate, and she and her crew had claimed it as theirs. They had already set up the fountains that would float along the surface, and Sakura knew it would be quite a sight; fire and water and rippling reflections. If that wasn't enough to impress Fujitaka-san…

She dashed the thought away.

It would be enough, she told herself. It had to be. This was her last chance.

In the past weeks, the Jubilee committee had attended a show she's mounded in Tomoeda Park and another that she had designed to honour the Mayor. Neither had been without complications, and she shuddered at the very thought. The Tomoeda park show had been ruined by an untimely rainstorm and an onslaught of fog. The other show…

At the memory Sakura's fingers curled into her palms. She tucked her thumbs around her fist.

Before the show for the Mayor, she'd seen a member of Syaoran's crew lurking about and had done everything in her power to make sure the man kept his distance.

Even that, it seemed, was not enough.

Somehow he'd managed to tamper with the lances. On cue, the first lance was lit, and for a few moments everything worked like a dream. One by one the lances caught, and in less than a minute there was the image of the Mayor, outlined in dazzling fireworks. Just as Sakura had planned, the fire jumped out to the lance work that had been constructed next to the Mayor's. There too the lances caught. There too they drew a blazing picture, this one of the Queen. The crowd cheered in approval.

And then their cheers turned to laughter.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut. Even now the memory made her head spin and her stomach turn sour.

Her Majesty's image looked over the crowd. It was regal. Majestic. Dignified. Just like the queen herself. Except she didn't have any hair.

"Childish." It was exactly what she'd told Syaoran when she ran into him after the show. The same words she mumbled now. "Childish. And disrespectful. Imagine vandalizing the image of the Queen, rigging the lances so that the lances for her hair didn't catch on fire."

"What's that you say?" Takeda's voice snapped Sakura out of her thoughts. She turned from Syaoran's lance work to find him watching her.

"Nothing." She dismissed her thoughts and her behaviour with a shake of her head. "Just wondering what the committee will think. It's the first time our work will be seen side by side, you know. Mine and Syaoran's."

"No worry there." Sakura had the feeling that had she been a man, Takeda would have given her an encouraging thump on the shoulder. "I just hope them boys you hired do their jobs and keep them Li guys away from my fireworks, 'cause if they don't, there'll be hell to pay."

Sakura followed Takeda's gaze over to where the private detectives she'd hired—the fellows Takeda called _boys—_were patrolling the perimeter, making sure that none of the fireworks were tampered with. Though they were dressed like her workers, in jeans and white t-shirt, it was obvious they weren't really a part of the team. Not one of them had lifted a finger to help in the setup, and Sakura knew it was just as well. As Takeda had so ably pointed out, working with fireworks wasn't a Sunday picnic. It was serious. And dangerous. To their credit, the detectives realized it and kept their distance.

"You best get a move on," Takeda nodded once towards the house, another time at Sakura. "Can't go strolling into a costume party looking like that, can you, now?"

Sakura glanced down at her attire. She was dressed just like her workers in tight fitting blue jeans and a crisp white shirt. It was perfectly appropriate outfit for the head of a respectable firework company family. And a perfectly inappropriate one for a guest of Hiragizawa Eriol at what was sure to be one of the highlights of the social season. She headed towards the house.

"I'll be back in time to shoot the show," she told Takeda. "No worries there."

"None at all." Takeda nodded his head in a bow. "Only you be careful, Sakura-Chan, and avoid that Li fellow. I don't trust him as far as I could throw him."

"No." Sakura couldn't argue the statement. "Neither do I."

The realization still drumming through her head, she stopped to speak to each of the detectives, and when she was satisfied that nothing was amiss and not one member of Syaoran's crew had been anywhere near her fireworks, she checked with her own crew. She talked to the loaders who'd set the shells into their mortars and with the shooters who would be working with her to ignite the fuses. Satisfied everything was ready; she made her way toward the house.

_House_ was hardly a sufficient word.

Thought Tomoyo and Eriol called this place their country house, Sakura always though the word far too cosy and not anywhere near adequate enough.

The building was not so much a house as it was a small, self-contained country. The manor had no less than fifty rooms and was surrounded by its own chapel, extensive stables, and glorious gardens, all of it arrayed like jewels in a splendid setting of three thousand acres. Tomoyo had added her own touches and made it as homey as possible, and for that Sakura was thankful. The room she was using for the night—and for the weekend if Tomoyo had her way and talked Sakura into staying—was luxurious and comfortable, and Sakura hurried up to it and, with the help of Tomoyo's maids, changed into her costume for the ball.

"Oh, Kinomoto-san, you look beautiful!" gushed the maid in true Tomoyo fashion.

"Thank you." Sakura stepped back and took a long look at herself in the full-length mirror. Her dress was a classic style from a hundred years earlier, a sumptuous concoction of brocade and silk in a delicate pink that perfectly matched her rosy cheeks. The gown was nipped close to her waist and shimmered down her legs in waves of fabric. The huge overskirt opened in the middle to reveal her legs from the knee down.

The dress was cut low over Sakura's chest, its bodice adorned with row after row of lace and silk enough for the dress to look appropriate. They matched the bows on her shoulder-length sleeves and the simple pink bow around Sakura's throat. The dress was delightful and to go with it, Sakura had curled her hair and let it down to flow out behind her.

It was altogether charming, if Sakura did say so herself, and she thanked the maid and started for the door. Before she got there, the maid stopped her.

"A note for you, Kinomoto-san." The maid handed her an envelope and left the room.

Curious, Sakura ripped open the envelope. Inside it was a single piece of paper. "_**Darling,**_" the note said. "_**I am jealous that I have to share you with the rest of the company! Can't wait to see you alone. Meet me in the 15th room on the third floor at eight o'clock.**_" It was signed "_**Rui.**_"

Sakura found herself smiling. How typical of Rui to be so considerate. And so flattering. She folded the note and made to place it in her purse, then thought better of the idea. Since the day she had retrieved the recipe for _Diamond Rain _from the safe at the offices of Kinomoto Corporation, she'd kept it in a tiny silk pouch tucked into the side of her bra. She thought of putting the note in there but there was hardly any room for Rui's note. Besides, she didn't need to remind herself of its contents. She set it down on the bed and left the room. "15th room. Third floor," she reminded herself, and headed down to the party.

The ballroom was as impressive as the rest of the place. By the time Sakura got there, it was ablaze with colour and light. The music had already started, and she stood at the top of the wide, shallow steps that led down to the dance floor and watched couples swirl by to the strains of a waltz. Tomoyo was dressed as Queen Elizabeth I to Eriol's Henry VIII, and Sakura complimented them both.

She was already on her way down the steps looking for Rui when she heard a burst of hearty laughter from the front door. She didn't need to turn around and look to know who'd arrived.

A quick retreat was totally out of the question. It would be rude and altogether too obvious. Sakura stood her ground, and when Syaoran came into view, she realized she couldn't have left even if she wanted to. She was too stunned to move.

While the rest of the crowd had selected costumes that were as aristocratic as the titles many of them held, Syaoran had chosen something less blue-blooded and far simpler. He looked like one of the pictures Sakura had seen in history books or the cover of a traditional martial arts movie

Only pictures didn't do the outfit any justice at all.

And Syaoran certainly did.

Sakura snapped open the pink and white silk fan she carried in one hand and waved it in front of her face, watching as Syaoran greeted his host and hostess. If they were surprised by his singular choice of a costume, they were all too well bred to make it known, but even Tomoyo could not disguise the fact that, not once but twice, she allowed her gaze to run the length to Syaoran's body and both times she caught her breath.

Sakura could understand why.

Syaoran was dressed in green traditional robes that clung to every inch of his broad shoulders. The sash around his well-muscled waist was red. The trousers underneath were pure white and hung around his lean legs comfortably and hugged his backside.

Alarmed that someone might notice her interest in that portion of his anatomy, Sakura forced her gaze up to Syaoran's shoulders again. Not that she cared. She barely remembered the hard, flat planes of Syaoran's body, she reminded herself. No more than she remembered the feeling of his muscled flesh beneath her fingertips…

And if she did remember, it wouldn't have mattered one bit. Or so she told herself.

The outfit was made complete by the addition of green shoes and an old beautifully crafted sword that hung on his back.

It was an authentic costume, right enough, and it made her wonder if real martial artists ever got any work done, or if they were so busy being ogled by the women that work was the furthest thing from their minds. It was, at the moment, the furthest thing from Sakura's mind.

So was rational thought.

Had she been thinking logically, she would have registered the fact that Syaoran was done greeting his host and hostess and was heading her way.

"Hello, Kinomoto-san." Syaoran bowed to her respectfully and turned a smile on Sakura.

She clicked her tongue. "Where the hell did you get that costume?"

"Like it?" Syaoran folded his hands inside his sleeves. "It's my great grandfathers."

"Really!" When Syaoran took a step closer, Sakura took a step back. "You look like you just trained in it. I hope you don't smell like it too."

Syaoran laughed. He took another step forward and raised his eyebrows in a silent challenge. "Dance with me and find out."

He was teasing. He didn't really want to dance with her. He couldn't. He cared no more for her than she did for him. Realizing it was the only thing that kept Sakura from running away as fast as she could. "By the time I agree to dance with you, it'll be too late. If you smell like sweat—"

"He doesn't!" Tomoyo stepped forward and sniffed the air, as if confirming her suspicions. "You have no excuse at all, Sakura. You have to dance with him." Sakura sent her best friends a withering look. One Tomoyo firmly ignored.

Syaoran noticed the exchange, and it only made him bolder. "See? As sweet as a rose!" He snatched up one of her hands, and though the smile he gave her was meant for everyone to see, the words he murmured were for her ears alone. "Dance with me, Ying Fa."

It was impossible for Sakura to say no. People were watching. Tomoyo and Eriol were watching. The committee was watching. Fujitaka-san was watching. Even Touya was watching from across the room.

It would be cheeky to refuse. And rude. It would signal to the world that Syaoran could topple even the firmest of Sakura's resolutions, and she refused to do that. She refused to let anyone know that he had a way of taking her thoughts and turning them upside down. Especially Syaoran.

Sakura had no choice but to allow him to lead her to the dance floor.

As if he knew all along that she would surrender, Syaoran acknowledged his victory with a wry smile, and his fingers tightened over hers. A shock of awareness travelled through Sakura, and she braced herself against it. It was not so easy to steady herself against the feel of Syaoran's hand when he flattened it against the small of her back, or the odd, prickly sensation caused by the fact that his body was only inches from hers.

They fell into rhythm of the waltz, their feet moving in an easy harmony that seemed to contrast the look Sakura shot Syaoran's way.

His only defence was a merry laugh. "Admit it, Sakura, this isn't so bad. We always were the perfect dance partners."

"Yeah, but the way I remember it, the dance floor was the only place we ever got along."

"Was it?" He looked down at her, his eyes sparking a memory inside Sakura that caused heat to race up her neck and spread into her cheeks.

Syaoran was a lot of things. He was generous to a fault, and he could be civil when the sprit moved him. He was an astute businessman and a clever fireworks technician. He had even known to be brilliant. What he was not was graceful in victory.

He must have surely seen the blush that betrayed her, and he wasn't about to let it pass without pressing his advantage. He let his gaze drift over her, form the top of her head to the baby pink bow at her throat, from the pink bow to where her gown was cute square and low over her chest only hidden by silk. For space of a dozen heartbeats he kept his gaze there, and she saw his chest rise and fall and felt the nearly imperceptible tightening of his hand against his waste.

"The way I remember it…" He let his gaze glide up again, until he was looking into her eyes, watching for any flicker of emotions that would bare her soul to him. "There were a few other places we got along quite well. I could list them for you if you need the reminder."

"No thanks." Fighting to hold on to her composure, Sakura looked over Syaoran's shoulders. They swung around the perimeter of the dance floor, and in a whirl Sakura saw Touya, who was dressed as a Knight, talking to Ashikaga Akito dressed up in a similar way. At another turn, she saw Tomoyo at the top of the stairs talking to Rui. He looked elegant in his prince outfit, and he was enough of a gentleman enough to offer Sakura a tiny wave as they whirled by. There was something about Rui's solid good sense that made her feel more level-headed, more in control. Some calm that counteracted Syaoran's intensity. Some balance that offset the capricious way her heart beat when Syaoran was anywhere near, and the way she fought to catch her breath, even when they weren't dancing.

"There's no arguing with you," she said, switching her gaze back to Syaoran. "If I say I don't remember, you're certain to tell me I'm wrong. And if I tell you I do remember—"

"You will, for all intents and purposes, be admitting that you've never been able to forget me."

It wasn't what Syaoran said, but the self-satisfied way he said it. Sakura gave him her most long-suffering look. "It isn't as if I haven't tried."

Syaoran chuckled. "As hard as I've tried to forget you, I dare say. It's a damned awkward situation, Sakura. You have to admit that much. I lie in bed at night and I think about what you're doing and who you might be with." His own gaze travelled briefly to Rui. "I wake in the morning and wonder what it would be like to find you there beside me."

Emotion flickered through his eyes, but it was impossible for Sakura to tell whether it was passion or exasperation. She thought it must surely be the latter, especially when Syaoran sighed. "Do you suppose we were ever in love?" he asked.

It was not something Sakura liked to think about. She dismissed the question with a shake of her head. "You haven't honestly been wasting your time thinking about that, have you?"

"Yeah, I have." Syaoran agreed readily enough, and he didn't seem the least bit embarrassed by the admission. They whirled to the far side of the ballroom, and the light there must have been less dazzling. His eyes darkened. "I think about it a lot. I wonder what would have happened had we gone through with it. Had you ever shown up at the church for our wedding."

"Had I shown up at the church for our wedding," she reminded him, "I would have found myself quite alone."

Syaoran's lips thinned. "And had I bothered to show up—"

"Two wrongs don't make a right." Sakura's voice rose. "You are the one—"

"No, I'm not. You are the one who—"

It might have been the whirl of light and colour that surrounded them, or the realization that they were dancing in the midst of sultans and kings. It might have been the heady feeling of being whisked around the dance floor in the crook of Syaoran's arms, or the fact that the night was young and promised to be filled with the exhilaration and glamour of fireworks.

Whatever the reason, Sakura couldn't help herself from bursting into laughter. "You see? Now you know exactly what it would have been like if we married. We would have murdered each other for sure!"

Syaoran chuckled, his intensity disappearing beneath an onslaught of good humour. "You're right," he said. "Like fireworks. You'd shoot me with a rocket, and I'd retaliate with my best shell."

"Flights of rockets, suns and stars, and golden streamers!"

"And fiery serpents chasing each other across the night sky." Syaoran's laughter stilled and the smile fled his face. "It's not a pretty picture, is it?"

No, not when he put it that way. But there had been a time when Sakura thought it would be. A time when every minute with Syaoran was giddy and electrifying. A time when she dreamed of spending the rest of her life with him.

Her smile vanished along with his, and a hollow feeling she feared was regret established itself firmly where only moments ago she felt her heart race at his every word.

As amazing as it seemed, Syaoran must have been feeling all the same things. Or at least he was enough of an actor to pretend it. He caught her gaze and held it, his eyes dark with longing.

"Do you love Hiragizawa Rui?"

"Love him?" It was a foolish question, surely, yet the moment Syaoran asked it, Sakura realized she didn't know the answer. She slid her gaze over his shoulder and searched the ballroom, but Rui was nowhere in sight and she felt suddenly like those acrobats she'd seen swing from their trapezes with no net below to catch them should they fall.

For a full minute Syaoran waited for her answer. Or perhaps it was longer. Too busy with her own thoughts, Sakura wasn't sure. She might never have responded at all had he not looked down at her, his eyebrows raised. "Well, he did ask you to marry him."

"He never had a chance." Sakura dared him to contradict her. "As you may recall, you interrupted us."

"I would say you owe me a debt of gratitude."

"You would."

"And you wouldn't agree." It was more of a question than a statement, but it was obviously a question Syaoran was reluctant to ask. He let his words trail away, hoping, perhaps, that she would elaborate, and when she didn't, he looked at her expectantly. It must surely have been Sakura's imagination. She could have sworn that Syaoran looked relieved. "Then you're not going to marry him?"

"I didn't say that." Sakura was no surer of her own reaction to the news than she was of Syaoran's. "I said he hadn't asked. We've both been busy. He hasn't had another opportunity. In fact—"

Suddenly, the reasons for Rui's carefully planned tryst at eight o'clock became all too clear. She looked over at the clock that stood in one corner of the room and realized it was nearly eight o'clock. She had an appointment to meet Rui on the third floor bedroom.

It was just the right time for the music to end, and that is exactly what happened. Syaoran guided Sakura through the last figures of the dance, then stepped back and bowed. Her glance at the clock had not escaped him.

"I see you have other places to go," he said. "So I won't keep you. I'll let you be on your way. Only, princess…" The emotion that pulsed through his voice caused Sakura to stop just as she was about to walk away. Syaoran reached one hand towards the ribbon at her throat. His fingers pulled at a loose end of the ribbon and brought it to his mouth for a kiss. "Don't let the dragons bite off your pretty little head," he said, and gave her a wink.

This time she didn't hesitate to answer him. She looked him in the eye and if nothing else, her expression told him she'd learned a thing or two in the last four years. And she wasn't about to forget any of it.

"Better my head than my heart," she told him.

Syaoran's only reply was a laugh. Still chuckling, he moved away, and Sakura set out for her meeting with Rui.

She was very much surprised to find him speeding towards the corner of the ballroom where all the men had gathered to talk business, precisely the opposite direction from the stairs of the third floor.

"Am I really late or really early?" she asked him.

Rui looked at her in wonder.

Sakura shook her head. It seemed that even the most dependable of men could be absentminded at times. "15th room of the third floor? Eight o'clock?" Her reminder was met with an expression as blank as any Sakura had ever seen.

Sakura's stomach went cold. Her skin prickled, but this time it didn't prickle with anticipation the way it did as she danced with Syaoran. It prickled with suspicion. She looked at Rui, searching his face for the truth.

"You didn't send me a note, did you? You didn't ask me to meet you at eight?"

It was clear Rui didn't quite know how to respond. "Well, I wish I had," he said. "It's a really good idea. But…" He looked in the direction of the stairs, then back towards the gathering of the businessmen. But though he may have been torn, there was no question which choice he would make. With Rui, duty would always win our over temptation. "There is this guy who's from a company that we were looking to merge with and he's here today and I thought if I could just talk to him about…"

He didn't wait for a clear explanation, or for Sakura's reply. His mind clearly more occupied with his business than it was with romance, Rui hurried away.

And left Sakura very thoughtful indeed.

She was heading for the meeting place, still deep in thought when she heard a voice she recognized as Ashikaga Akito's echo from the other end of the hallway.

"…fool her this time, and that's for sure."

Sakura darted into the empty bathroom just as Akito came past. He was deep in conversation with a tall man in a prince costume, and for a moment Sakura thought it was Rui. Until she saw the man's amber eyes.

Her own eyes narrowed, her mind working over the curious turn of events, Sakura peeked around the half-closed door and took a good, long look.

When she'd seen Syaoran only a few minutes ago, he was dressed as a martial artist in traditional Chinese ceremonial robes. Now he was a prince. A very familiar-looking prince.

Syaoran's royal red jacket with gold linings were the same as Rui's, and so was the golden sash that was hung from his left shoulder. His white trousers with gold linings at the bottom were the same as Rui's. He even had a wig that looked to be a twin of Rui's hair. It was dark and full of curls, and it cascaded over Syaoran's eyes.

Surely what Sakura was thinking was impossible! She was thinking too much, she told herself. She was being absurd. No one was that audacious. Not even Syaoran. Even he wasn't brazen enough to pass himself off as another man, or cocky enough to take advantage of woman who was unaware of the switch.

But of course she knew he was.

Torn between indignation and disbelief, vacillating between keeping herself hidden and confronting Syaoran, Sakura watched the men said their good-byes. Akito ambled into himself towards the ballroom. And Syaoran proceeded towards the 15th door to the left of the hallway.

The pieces of the puzzle fell into place, and Sakura's mouth dropped open.

Just as quickly a slow smile lit her face and a deliciously wicked plan formed in her mind. Sakura checked the mirror that hung on the wall of the bathroom. She ran a hand over her head, smoothing every last hair into place. She tugged the sleeves of her gown lower, exposing the sweep of her shoulders. She adjusted the silk at her bodice, loosening the one at the top, baring ever more of her cleavage.

She drew a deep breath, lifted her chin, and headed for the 15th room, as ready as she would ever be to give the devil his due.

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Please review so i know you all still love the story. ALso, if you have any inputs for future chapters id love to hear them and try and include them.

Thanks xx


	11. Truth and Lies

The big moment is here. From now on, all chapters will be my own. I followed the spoilers left by KaNa, but most of the storyline is now my own original ideas. I really hope you guys like it and continue to enjoy this story. Thanks xx

Rated M for strongf language and adult themes

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 11**  
_Truth and Lies_

Syaoran paced around the room as he waited for Sakura to arrive. He had lured her here without suspicion and now he would play her like the fool she really was. The plan was perfect, the disguise a masterpiece and now as Syaoran awaited the fun he was about to have, he couldn't help grinning.

Yet somewhere in the back of his mind, Syaoran was still contemplating how far he would take his little joke. Would he finally be able to express his true emotions in a night of passionate love making? But it wouldn't be him, would it? Or would he stop so that Sakura didn't get hurt? Syaoran's mind became clouded with these thoughts.

He was soon snapped to his senses when he heard a soft knock at the door. Syaoran put on his best fake smile as he opened the door, but he couldn't stop his jaw from slacking as he looked at the beauty before him. Sakura's dress was no longer modest. The straps were pushed far down her arms revealing feminine shoulders and a great view of the top of her breasts. The dress also seemed a lot shorter, revealing Sakura's fantastic pale legs.

"Can I come in Rui?" Sakura asked with a silky smile on her lips. Syaoran stepped aside, allowing her to enter the room before closing the door behind her. As soon as he turned around, Sakura's lips were on his in a passionate and heated kiss. Syaoran had no choice but to respond as they fought for dominance, their tongues battling one another. Syaoran couldn't help the soft groan that slipped out as memories of their past experiences came flooding back. He saw the beach, the cinema and his apartment, all places where they had shared intimate moments and his mind raced to what was to come.

Eventually the pair pulled back for air and Syaoran caught a glance of Sakura's lust filled eyes. Realisation dawned on him and he looked away, knowing if she saw his amber orbs, he would be revealed. He pulled away from the embrace, his emotions racing. His head was telling him to stop messing about and continue with his plan. She was clearly fooled by his appearance and was seemingly willing to go quite far. Yet his heart was telling him that this was wrong. Sakura would get hurt and he didn't want that. If they were to make love, it would be as Syaoran and Sakura, not someone else. Syaoran moved over to the window as he contemplated his thoughts, forgetting Sakura was still in the room.

"What's wrong Rui?" Sakura asked, following him towards the corner of the room. She sounded hurt and Syaoran fought hard to pursue his plan.

In his best Rui voice, Syaoran responded. "Sakura, we really need to talk about all this". It was a good impression and if Sakura hadn't already been on to Syaoran, she would have been fooled.

"All of what?" she asked, keeping up the pretence.

Syaoran spun round to look at her, his face full of anger. "All this crap over the Jubilee contract! It's tearing us apart! You have been so obsessed with winning over that Li guy that you haven't really spent any time with me." Even though it was fake, Sakura felt slightly pained by Syaoran's words. She knew there was some truth to them and the fact that even Syaoran could see that meant Rui certainly had.

Syaoran continued. "He interrupted when I was trying to propose for goodness sakes. But I think you knew. I think you knew I was going to ask you to marry me and that's why you let him stay" Syaoran knew he was playing a risky game, but if he got the desired effect, then the hidden camera would capture the most perfect moment and he would ruin Sakura for good.

However, Sakura had other plans. She knew what Syaoran was up to and she knew exactly how to respond.

"Oh Rui, you have it all wrong. I love you, I always have. Of course I want to marry you. Syaoran is a self-centred low life who only cares about himself. We were never in love, only pretending to be for the sake of our businesses. With you it's real. I know things have gotten a little out of hand but it will be over soon. Whether I get the contract or not, I still want to be with you." Sakura approached Syaoran as he silently cursed. It was definitely not the reaction he had been hoping for and it hurt to hear her say she didn't or hadn't ever loved him.

Beginning to lose his patience, Syaoran tried again.

"You must have some feelings for him, or else you wouldn't want to beat him so badly. He can be that could that you have to try this hard with no other intentions." It was a trap that was clearly obvious to Sakura. Either she admitted that she had feelings for Syaoran, or that he was that good. She knew now was the time to make her move.

"No he's not that good. Not that good at all. Especially when he pretends to be someone he's not!" In a flash, Sakura pulled off Syaoran's wig and he was exposed.

"You are filth Li, do you know that? What exactly where you trying to get from me?" Syaoran was speechless. Had she known all along? Or had she just figured it out? Either way, he was busted and his plan had been a complete fail.

"Now you're lost for words! You make me sick. I love Rui, not you. Who would ever love you? You're a joke and I don't know what you were trying to do but it didn't work" Sakura stormed towards the door and swung it open. Syaoran jumped out of his seat. He opened his mouth and the words came flying out before his brain even had the chance to stop him.

"I just wanted you to tell me that you still have feelings for me like I still have feelings for you". His words froze Sakura by the doorway as they echoed around the room. Syaoran continued to stare at Sakura, his heart thumping and his mind furious at his sudden declaration. She didn't move, just looked out into the empty hallway as his words were processed in her mind. She looked at him. He seemed pathetic, a hurt look on his face, the wig still cast on the floor and his chest rising and falling erratically.

"I'm going to ignore what you just said Li, because clearly you have had one too many. I'm going back to Rui and we can get on with the fireworks". Sakura's monotone voice hit Syaoran hard. She left the room and shut the door, her footsteps echoing quietly. Syaoran punched the wall, his anger and humiliation coming out all at once. Not only had his plan failed, but he had become weak and admitted something he had no right to say.

A single tear rolled down his eye. Not due to anger or hurt or sadness. Simply because he had been heartbroken. Heartbroken once again.

* * *

Returning to the party, Sakura searched desperately for Rui. The words Syaoran had said rang in her ears. Of course they were lies, she told herself. It was merely a trick to get her to lower her guard so he could win. She wouldn't allow it! She found Rui stood with Eriol, deep in conversation. She ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

"What's caused all this, darling?" Rui asked, turning to hug Sakura back.

"I just love you so much!" Sakura replied, a soft smile on her face.

"Ah, fair enough. Well you are just in time. The display is about to start". Realisation dawned on Sakura as she saw everyone make their way outside. The show was about to start.

* * *

Meanwhile, Syaoran was having a quiet discussion with his fireworks director.

"You want to do what!" the man yelled, trying to follow what Syaoran was saying.

"Keep your voice down. I'm just changing the last firework, that's all. I can handle it so don't worry about it. All you need to do is set it up, I'll do the rest"

"Whatever you say, boss." the man huffed as Syaoran walked off. It was such a weird last minute change, but then again, his boss was pretty weird too.

* * *

Taking up her place, Sakura addressed the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. I am delighted to present to you this evening our spectacular show. As a great man once said... Let there be light!" At once the sky lit up as rockets shot in the air behind her. Multiple rockets followed, causing the sky to become a rainbow of colour.

The crowed clapped in awe as more fireworks enlightened their eyes. Then came Sakura's favourite part. A small fountain in the centre of the water fountain began emitting little sparks of colour that reflected on the surface of the water. It died down and for a second nothing happened. Suddenly, multiple fountains erupted on the water, creating a phenomenal display of intellect and imagination.

The display ended after one final fountain erupted in golden stars. Applause ruptured from the crowd and Sakura smiled warmly at everyone as she walked back towards Rui.

"That was...WOW!" Tomoyo yelled, hugging her friend. Rui nodded in agreement and Eriol laughed as Sakura tried to speak from Tomoyo's grasp. Their happiness was short lived as a spotlight focused on someone in the shadows.

"Yes, yes wasn't that just wonderful! I must say even I was impressed. However, now the _REAL_ fireworks can begin." Syaoran's voice carried across the people as they fell silent. Sakura looked straight at him and noticed he had changed back into his original costume. She didn't have time to fully asses him though as a large firework erupted overhead. Many followed and soon Sakura was getting bored. The rest of the crowd seemed fully entertained by the show, but Sakura knew there had to be more to it.

The sudden lack of noise sparked her interest and Sakura, like many others, began to wonder what was going on. Syaoran spoke once again as the spotlight returned to him.

"This last firework is dedicated to someone very special to me. It is dedicated to the woman I spend every day thinking about. The woman who haunts my dreams and softens my nightmares. This last firework, ladies and gentlemen, is dedicated to the woman I love."

A fountain was set alight and instantly pink sparks came flying out. Lighter shades of pink came out in long strands whilst darker shades only appeared as mere specs of colour as the fountain grew in size. It was gorgeous, like a bouquet of flowers and even Sakura could not deny it was a marvel.

Then something happened that completely took her breath away. The fountain dies and a single rocket launched from the centre. As it exploded in the sky, it formed the image of a beautiful and delicate cherry blossom. The rocket must have taken years to perfect, but that wasn't what got to Sakura. She had only told Syaoran once that her favourite flowers were in harmony with her name, but he had never paid any attention to this fact. Yet now, as the last sparks died away, she couldn't help but wonder if it was more than just coincidence that Syaoran had used a cherry blossom.

At first Sakura cursed herself. Of course it wasn't her. It was probably just some slut he had picked up who liked the colour pink. Or maybe Syaoran's mystery woman didn't exist and he had just said all that spiel to win over the crowd and the committee. Then another part started to argue back. Maybe what he had said when they were alone had actually been true. Maybe he did still have feelings for her. But love? Was a man like that truly capable of love?

One thing Sakura was certain of. This was going to make her life a whole lot tougher.

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Woo so that was the end of my chapter. I hope it lived up to expectations. Let me know what you think because i really need to know if im doing a good job.

Thanks for all of your support xx


	12. You win some, you lose some

Wooooo! At last i have managed to update :D I know a lot of you will be glad i havent dropped this story and im sorry it took ages but right now im preparing for my A Level exams in May so i really dont have the time to update as fast as i used to, but im doing my best. This chapter wiould have been up two or more weeks ago but we lost internet connection in my house and as soon as i got it back, FanFiction were having problems with their login page. Ah well.

I would just like to point out that I know i havent totally kept with the same writting style as the original author but in all fairness she was American and I am English. We have been brought up learning very different styles of writting and i am doing my best but it is hard for me to try and change something ive been doing all my life.

Sorry if i ranted a little "/

Anyway, please enjoy!

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**Chapter 12**  
_You win some, you lose some_

The fireworks were long over and the after party was in full swing, but Sakura was in no mood to chat and dance. As she stood out on the balcony she sighed to herself. Syaoran's words echoed around her head and she found her mind wandering back to the time when they had been together. There had been days when it was clear Syaoran was only in the relationship for the fireworks, but there were also days that were different. Days when he had the spark and flair of a man truly in love.

"Thinking about me, are we?" The sly voice could only belong to one person and Sakura snapped out of her thoughts, instantly angered.

"What do you want Li?" she spat. Sakura knew she was being observed, but she didn't care. At this point, she just wanted to be far away from the man currently occupying all thought in her mind.

"Well people are looking for you. You've been out here for ages, alone." He emphasized the last word for effect. "I've come as company".

"Well I want to be alone. Please leave." Sakura stated firmly before turning to gaze out into the night sky. Syaoran didn't leave. Instead he moved up behind Sakura and whispered in her ear.

"Come now Ying Fa, you know you don't mean that. Is something wrong? I could comfort you. Or make love, like we used to" At these words, Sakura tensed. "You'd like that wouldn't you? I can make you scream like before and satisfy you in a way Rui never could".

That was the last straw for Sakura.

"You are nothing in comparison to Rui. It's over and done within about five minutes and you have NO IDEA how to pleasure a woman. You only care about your needs. AND, you don't even make up for it in size because frankly I've seen larger a manhood on SHEEP!" The whole room had gone silent at this point and although she didn't realise it, Sakura had just informed everyone including the committee and Rui of Syaoran's failures in the bedroom.

Too overcome with anger, Syaoran ignored the silence. "Oh yeah, then how come I've had you screaming my name over and over time and time again? How come you'd beg me for more, even when we were practically fighting for air? How do you explain the fact that despite you having a boyfriend, you can't stop thinking of me?" His last point had been a stab in the dark, but the reaction he got just confirmed he was right in what he said.

To this day Syaoran could not think of a time that he had been slapped as hard as he had then. Sakura ran out the room, past all the guests and home, even as Rui and Tomoyo attempted to call after her. Syaoran just stood on the spot. He had been humiliated in front of thousands of people, his cheek ached but his biggest concern was that he had just blown any chance of Sakura ever loving him again.

* * *

Tomoyo tapped softly on Sakura's door.

"GO AWAY" came the muffled yell.

"Sweetie, it's just me. Please let me in Saks." Tomoyo said, opening the door cautiously.

Sakura looked up from her bed. Her eyes were tear stained and she had make up all down her face. She wore a baggy top and shorts which were crumpled but Tomoyo suspected that at this point, Sakura wasn't concerned with how she looked.

"He ruined my life Moyo. Rui left me after the party. He said he couldn't handle all the history between me and Li. I really loved him and I blew it because I let that idiot get under my skin!"

Tomoyo rubbed Sakura's back soothingly. "It will be ok Sakura. Rui really loves you too and he'll come round. You'll see. He just needs time. Don't let Li bother you. It's the big day tomorrow and after that it will be all over, win or lose. If he sees he's gotten to you then he knows he's won. We can't let him think that, can we?" Tomoyo added, looking at Sakura who perked up.

"I guess not" she mumbled. "Thanks Moyo, you're a great friend."

Tomoyo smiled. "I know" she giggled.

* * *

The next day was the day Sakura dreaded the most. Sitting in the waiting room of the committee hall was her worst moment. She had an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach and no matter how hard she tried she could not shake it. That, combined with the fact that Syaoran was sat opposite, watching her every move, were what had caused her to decide this. After an hour, she snapped.

"What the hell are you looking at Li?"

"I was just analysing your body" he replied airily "It turns out I'm not the only one who is less than satisfactory in the looks department". Sakura jumped out of her seat, enraged.

"How dare you! You're a pig Li and I hate your fu..." at that point, the meeting room door opened and out stepped Fujitaka-san.

"We are ready for you" he announced "but please do take your time if we are interrupting". Blushing, Sakura hurried into the room, followed by a smirking Syaoran. Inside, the room felt tense as all the committee members awaited their arrival. Once everyone was seated again, Fujitaka spoke. "We can all agree that these past few weeks have been rather...well... interesting shall we say?" He smiled at the other members who nodded in agreement. Sakura felt herself sink into her chair with embarrassment. "Syaoran, your shows provide imagination and flair whilst yours, Sakura, show passion and intelligence. It has been a very hard decision to make, but we have reached a unanimous opinion." Sakura held her breath, certain she was going to lose. She glanced over at Syaoran, who oddly looked equally as scared. It felt like hours before Fujitaka spoke again. "It is our opinion that you should both work together as one to produce the jubilee show".

* * *

After the shock had worn off, Sakura had been left feeling annoyed. There was simply no way she and Syaoran would be able to work alongside one another as partners. Yet she had accepted the committee's terms anyway. In a way, she had to for the sake of her business. However it meant she would have to spend valuable hours of her time with Syaoran. Great!

Syaoran had too been left feeling rather annoyed. He had been sure he would win, especially after Sakura had made such a fool of herself on several occasions. His mind drifted back to a certain pink costume and how he had spent nights dreaming not of the dress, but of the woman who had worn that piece for one single night. A shudder ran down his back as reality hit him, hard. He knew that deep down he was only mad because he had assumed that by winning, he would have finally earned his revenge on Sakura for not coming to their wedding and then he could have finally forgotten about her. Clearly that was not working as right now all Syaoran could do was think of her and the time they would be spending together...alone.

In fact, the pair had arranged to meet up to discuss how they would plan the jubilee in between all their other shows. As expected, the phone rang and Sakura picked up at last.

"Hey partner" came the voice Sakura loathed.

"Don't ever call me that" she replied

"Ooohh touchy are we? Look I was wondering what you were doing later?" he quizzed, pondering if she was still with that idiot Rui. I twang of jealousy shot through him but he shook it off.

"Nothing. Why?" Sakura asked cautiously.

"Great, we can meet up then. I'll be there to pick you up in ten. Bye!" Before Sakura could argue, Syaoran had put the phone down. Cursing, Sakura threw the phone on the receiver and rushed to change into more attractive attire.

As he said, Syaoran pulled up in front of her house ten minutes later. He knocked softly on the door whilst his mind drifted back to past experiences where he had picked Sakura up for a date. She wouldn't return home again until the next day because they were so busy... Syaoran mentally slapped himself for even thinking in the way he was. He needed to regain his cool before Sakura notice.

All chance of that happening was lost when she opened the door. Dressed in a light purple summer dress, light pink shawl and ballet slippers, Sakura looked the epitome of sexy but subtle. Syaoran couldn't help realising that the heart shaped top of the dress truly did justice to her perfect breasts and made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Well are you going sometime today?" Sakura asked impatiently. Coming to his senses, Syaoran led Sakura to his limo.

"Where exactly are we going?" she asked.

"Back to my house" he replied "Where we won't be bothered by press."

Sakura knew his answer made sense, but she couldn't help feeling a little suspicious anyway.

* * *

Around half an hour later and Syaoran pulled into the drive that Sakura knew all too well. She had been here many times before, discussing wedding plans, meeting family and occasionally, making love with Syaoran. The thought sent a shiver down Sakura's spine as she stepped out onto the path that led to the front door. Syaoran opened it and allowed Sakura to enter first. She gawped and as she looked around. The whole house was filled with a most intoxicating scent. Not only that, but since she was last here Syaoran had redecorated. Gone were the gruesome animal heads and in their place hung family portraits and pieces of delicate art.

"You like what I've done with the place?" Syaoran asked, noticing Sakura's interest.

"It's certainly...different from the last time I was here" she replied, trying not to show she was impressed.

Syaoran chuckled softly as he took off his jacket and hung it on the nearby coat stand.

"Where are your maids?" Sakura asked as she allowed Syaoran to remove her own pink shawl. In the past, at least half a dozen maids worked for Syaoran and by now they would be busy making tea for the pair.

"I don't have maids anymore. I feel I should do more for myself so I live here with just the family butler Wei. Its quiet but I like it that way" he replied. Sakura looked at Syaoran in awe. The man she had once known was evidently long gone and in his place were the makings of a true gentleman.

However, then Sakura remembered why she was here. How Syaoran had ruined her long tern relationship and embarrassed her.

In an attempt not to let her anger take over, Sakura asked "Well, are we going to get down to business or what?"

Syaoran nodded and directed Sakura to a comfy sofa by the fireplace whilst he sat in an armchair opposite. After clearing his throat, he spoke.

"Obviously you have commitments to your company as do I" he began. "We each have other displays aside from the jubilee that we must prepare for, but we also need to meet on a regular basis to truly impress the queen. Therefore, I propose that we meet up every Tuesday and Friday to discuss the jubilee and all other days can be spent on our separate commitments. If you have a show on our meeting days then we will simply rearrange for a more suitable day." Syaoran looked to Sakura for confirmation. Her eyes seemed emotionless as she gazed into the fire.

After a moments silence, she spoke up. "That seems fair to me. Why did you need me to come all the way over here though? Could we not have had this conversation over the phone or in public? It's not as though we have said any gossip for the press." Sakura turned to look at Syaoran. Her deep green eyes bore into his amber ones and she couldn't help but notice their likeness to the flicker of the fire.

"That is true, however there is something else I wish to say that no one but you should hear" he said, his tone softening.

Sakura's breath hitched in her throat. She wasn't quite sure why, but she suddenly felt giddy and excitable. It was a similar feeling to when Rui was about to propose, yet slightly more nerving. Sakura nodded "Go on".

"I wish to apologise to you. These past few months I have done nothing but be cruel to you and there was no need for it. I feel so guilty for all that I have put you through and all that I ask is forgiveness" Syaoran refused to meet Sakura's gaze as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Sakura remained silent as she searched Syaoran for some signal that this was yet another one of his pranks.

The signal never came.

"That's alright Li. I never took your pranks seriously anyway. It's just like you to make stupid comments and claim you love me just to appease the audience. However, I suppose if we are to work together then I need to forgive you. Your apology is accepted." She said monotonously. Syaoran felt a pain in his heart when he realised Sakura still didn't realise he generally had feelings for her. However, she clearly did not return those emotions, so Syaoran chose to push them to the side.

"Well I am very glad to hear that. I think that is all" Syaoran said, standing. "Shall I take you home?"

"If you could" Sakura replied, also standing. They left the house and drove back to Sakura's home in almost complete silence. As Sakura got out of the car, Syaoran called to her.

"I shall arrange to see you on Tuesday then Sakura"

Sakura nodded and watched as he drove away. Letting herself in the house, Sakura collapsed in a heap on her bed. Maybe she had been wrong, but she felt sure that Syaoran would have argued with her when she said he didn't really love her. Undecided on whether she was hurt or just annoyed, Sakura fell asleep.

* * *

OOOOOoooo so what did you think? Chemistry is starting to emerge lol

Please review xx


	13. Beaches

OMG at last FF let me upload this chapter xD Im sorry it took so long but my first major exam was today. Dont worry it isnt bad news though, in two weeks i get two weeks off and ill update loads okay? Cool!

Please enjoy and let me know if its still good. Thannkss xx

* * *

**Chapter 13**  
_Beaches _

As she awoke in the morning, Sakura couldn't stop the smile that crept on her lips. The previous night with Syaoran, whilst irritating, had shown her he was willing to put their past behind him and work with her. She got dressed quickly, all other members of the household feeling brightened by her smile. Touya was away on business so it was only really the staff. Yet they all noticed her new upbeat attitude.

However, it was not to last.

"Ms Kinomoto, there is a young gentleman here to see you. He says it's urgent." The butler announced. Sakura's heart skipped a beat. Maybe it was Rui, here to forgive her and say he wanted her back.

"You may show him in" Sakura replied, giddily.

However to her annoyance she saw someone else in his place.

"Good morning partner!" Syaoran exclaimed as he walked into the room. Sakura glared at him.

"What do you want Li?" she asked with a tone of disappointment.

A look of genuine hurt crossed his face.

"Today is a Tuesday and we agreed to meet on a Tuesday so here I am" he replied. "But if you are busy then I'll go and we can rearrange for another day" he added.

Sakura suddenly felt a pang of guilt wash over her. "No it's okay Li I'm not busy. It's just been manic around her this morning that's all" she lied, smiling at him. "So where are we off to?"

Syaoran's expression changed to his legendary smirk. "Wait and see Ying Fa" he answered grabbing her arm and leading her to his motorbike outside before she had a chance to argue. The house maids waved her off with a smile and Wei the gardener laughed as Sakura's protests faded with the roar of the engine. "True love" he muttered.

BREAK

The sun shone brightly as Syaoran pulled into a bike space in a car park somewhere. Releasing her tight grip on him, Sakura opened her eyes for the first time since she had left her home. It was only then that she realised where they were. The sea glistened in the sunlight and the calm lapping of the waves against the sand brought a flood of happy memories back to Sakura.

"Oh I love the beach!" Sakura exclaimed "I can't believe you remembered"

Syaoran blushed slightly. He hadn't actually remembered at all but the Li business owned the beach so he had decided to bring her here. 'Lucky guess' he thought.

"Anyway, let's go" Syaoran muttered. Sakura followed him as he walked down onto the sand. The two walked along the beach in silence before Sakura spoke up.

"Where exactly are you taking me now?" she questioned. She stopped dead in her tracks as a table came into view. It was decorated with a soft pink table cloth and scented candles. The table was set with dinner for two and smiling Syaoran pulled out a chair for her.

"I thought you might be hungry" he said innocently. Sakura couldn't even argue as her stomach grumbled in agreement. She took a seat and waited whilst Syaoran sat opposite.

"So what are we having?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran lifted the lid on the platter closest to him. Underneath was a beautiful array of fruits in a splash of colour. All sorts of berries sat on the rim whilst a selection of melons and other exotic fruits filled the centre.

Sakura gasped in excitement at the site before her. She adored fruit of all kinds. Spotting her favourite pink coloured treat, she placed a slice of watermelon on her plate. In turn Syaoran selected a segment of mango and indulged in it.

Meanwhile Sakura had sliced her melon into bite sized chunks and was popping one in her mouth. Syaoran stopped to watch as she shut her eyes and let out a sigh of bliss. Her lips moved torturously slow as she placed another piece in her mouth. It was only then that she noticed Syaoran watching intently.

"Anyway I guess we should talk fireworks" Sakura suggested snapping Syaoran back to reality.

"Ahh yes well I think we should open with a grand fountain lit by the queen herself. You know, like the one you lit when you wore that tight pink..." Syaoran trailed off noting the death glare Sakura was giving him.

"We should follow with a few simple rockets, so something to warm the crowd up a little" Sakura added leaning over the table in excitement.

"And then something huge!" Syaoran said "Oh but I used my big fancy firework at the last show" he added with an air of disappointment.

"You mean the pink thing?" Sakura enquired. "Why didn't you save it?"

Syaoran looked out into the sea for a while. "I don't know" he muttered. Sakura could tell he was lying but decided to drop it.

BREAK

Sakura opened her eyes once again as she felt the bike stop. With Syaoran's assistance she hopped of the bike and walked towards the door of her home. She turned around to face him.

"Thanks for today. We did business and I still managed to relax a little. It was really nice" Sakura blushed as Syaoran shifted uncomfortably. When they were dating he would do it as a sign that he really wanted to kiss her. Surely that wasn't the case now, was it?

Before she could contemplate the idea Syaoran spoke up.

"So I will umm see you Thursday yeah?" he asked. Sakura simply nodded. "Well bye" and with that he was on his bike and gone. Sakura stared off into the distance as he left but soon snapped awake.

She opened the door and her jaw dropped. Standing in her living room was a bunch of men talking her mother's piano and her father's favourite and very expensive clock. They were all she had left of her parents after their death and she loved those things.

To think that she was mad would be an understatement. Sakura could not believe she was being robbed. Surely Touya was home? It was then that she spotted him. Touya. Talking to one of the men.

Storming over to him Sakura took him by surprise. "What are you doing home so early Sakura?" Touya asked shocked. Sakura became enraged.

"Me? How about you Touya? I thought you were down at the factory checking the fireworks and yet here you are letting some men take our possessions. I mean what's up with that?" Sakura yelled.

Touya looked guilty. "They don't belong to us anymore" he replied. Sakura gave him a questioning look. "I gambled them" he answered refusing to meet her glare. Sakura could feel the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "You promised you wouldn't" she whispered. Then as the tears threatened to fall she turned and ran to her room refusing to look back as Touya called after her.

Sakura screamed in her room as the tears flowed down her soft cheeks. Surely one day Touya would gamble away the company too. As more and more tears fell she barely heard her phone ring. She picked it up trying to stop the tears.

"Hello?" she asked shakily.

"Hey it's Syaoran I uh just wanted to check you were okay for Thursday before I went and booked a table for our meeting" the familiar voice answered. Sakura held back a sob.

"Yeah I guess that's okay" she replied but she knew she had failed to cover up her sadness.

"Sakura what's wrong? And don't even try to tell me nothing because I can tell when you're crying" he added.

Sakura knew he was right. She surrendered and cried down the phone. Syaoran was patient and let Sakura inform him of all her worries and pains. Then he soothed her until she had calmed down.

"I'm sure it's going to be okay Sakura" he spoke after a moment o silence.

"I know but I just want to get out of here you know? I can't be around him right now" she said quietly.

Syaoran understood perfectly and something within him begged to offer her his spare room but he knew that wouldn't be right. Besides, how would he cope when she was around in his personal space? How would he survive when there is a chance she would be in his home, his bathroom, his showe... He trailed off as thoughts of Sakura returned to him.

"Yeah I know but it will be okay Sakura. If you need me I'm here okay!" he chose to say.

"Yeah thanks. I'm going to go to sleep okay Li but thanks for all your help. See you Thursday" she said. Syaoran turned sad. She still refused to call him Syaoran but he knew she needed space and he would give it her...for now.

* * *

OOHH so the plot thickens haha Touya is so bad but its only becuase he needs help xD Poor Sakura though and poor Syaoran who is only trying to help. Hopefully they will see how much they need each other neh?

Please R and R xx


	14. Fighting

Woo so now my update is up xD I'm hoping that this one will make up for the others and I'm so glad you have all been patient :)

I just wanted to say a quick AN. Whilst loads of you have posted some lovely comments and really helpful feedback I have had a little negativity. I know some of my chapters seem a little rushed and disjointed but I promise it will make sense soon.

I don't mind criticism, in fact it really helps me to improve how I write but some of the comments were harsh and a little personal. One comment claimed that I had ruined this story. Well I hope you don't all think that. Kana (the original author) left notes on how she planned the rest of the chapters to go and I have stuck to that plan like glue. Yes I have added my own influences but I'm keeping the storyline as was intended. If you don't like my writing style or the way I have carried the story on then please do not continue reading. I was really hurt by what was said.

I'm so sorry for ranting but I felt it needed to be said.

To all those who posted kind and encouraging comments I thank you :) you have given me the strength to carry on regardless of what some people say.

Now on with the story...

* * *

**Chapter 14**  
_Fighting _

Three weeks had passed since Touya's gambling incident and things had been going smoothly. Well reasonably so. Syaoran and Sakura had preformed their separate shows and oddly at every one the fireworks appeared to be tampered with. Of course each company suspected the other but when the met up both Sakura and Syaoran denied being involved. And so the shows would carry on without disruption.

Whilst Sakura and Syaoran were getting along and even enjoying working together, their company employees really didn't trust each other. Often they would argue if they saw them in the street and all of Sakura's men were starting to question if her sense of judgement was being clouded by her old flame.

Meanwhile, Touya was falling deeper and deeper into gambling. He had already lost his flat and most of his possessions and was still going. His friend Yuki had tried on numerous occasions to get him to stop but it was all futile. Touya had become engrossed and there was simply no going back.

One day, Sakura had invited Syaoran to her fireworks show at the park in honour of the groundskeeper's service. She had a huge show planned out and wanted Syaoran to see one of the fireworks she wanted to use at the jubilee. The rockets had launched and Sakura smiled in wait for the next one. It never came. A huge bang shocked the crowd and Sakura rushed over to the launch site.

It was chaos. Many of Sakura's men had been hurt but most we gathered around a man on the floor.

"Loki!" Sakura yelled recognising her long time friend. She rushed over to help him. He was covered in cuts and his left arm had been dislocated. The sirens of an ambulance grew closer and soon Loki was lying on a stretcher.

As she watched Loki be carried away, Sakura was convinced that the incident was the work of Syaoran or his men. Before she had chance to query it, a fight broke out between the men as to who was to blame. Fists were flying everywhere and in an attempt to stop it Sakura stood in between them. They continued to fight and it only stopped when Sakura let out a cry of pain. She had been hit by some of the guys that Sakura recognised as Syaoran's men. She knew it was an accident but a sudden wave of realisation washed over her. Why would his men be here other than to sabotage her show? Syaoran walked over to try and help her up but Sakura, feeling betrayed, decided to ignore him and go home.

* * *

At home, Sakura sat and rethought everything. Maybe she was simply jumping to conclusions. There was no need for him to ruin her shows anymore so why would he? Plus odd things were happening to him too so maybe someone else was behind it.

She decided that she trusted Syaoran even though many of the signs pointed to him as a culprit. After all, they needed to work together. Sakura decided she should head on over to his house to apologize to him. She knocked several times and heard no reply other than the feint sound of music.

"Ah perhaps he can't hear me" she said to herself. Sakura tried the door to find it open so she allowed herself in. Walking into the living room Sakura's mouth dropped. There in the room was her mother's piano wrapped in bubble wrap like it was when it left her house. Surely a coincidence Sakura decided. But then she spotted her father's clock sitting by the fireplace as well as other possessions she knew to be Touya's.

Sakura couldn't believe it. As it turned out, the guy Touya kept losing to had been Syaoran all this time. He had never told her all the while they had been around one another. Sakura filled with rage as she cried in anger. At that point Syaoran appeared on the scene. He took one look at Sakura and the furniture and realised what was going on.

"No Sakura wait it's not..." but Sakura refused to listen. She stormed up to Syaoran and slapped him clean on the cheek. Then she turned and ran out of the house as fast as she could. Syaoran felt awful as he sighed to himself. This was going to be very difficult to explain to Sakura, if she ever let him explain.

* * *

It made sense to Sakura now. Syaoran must have felt that he couldn't win the contract completely and had been thinking of another way to take his revenge on Sakura. So he had been playing cards with Touya and taking all of Sakura's possession through him. His goal must have been to see Sakura's company come to ruin because of Touya.

What she didn't realise was that somewhere along the way, he actually started to fall in love with Sakura again and he was going to tell her about all this and eventually give it back to her.

The phone rang and Sakura picked it up.

"Sakura listen I need to explain" Syaoran pleaded.

"I have nothing to say to you Li" she yelled "You played me like the cheat you are" she added. This pained Syaoran and he became angry. In a moment of rage he screamed at her.  
"Yeah, that's right. It's all been a trick. I've been trying to take over your failure of a company by playing you and your pathetic brother like the fools you are. Guess I win yet again" he laughed evilly at her.

Sakura began to sob quietly and Syaoran immediately regretted what he had said. However, it was too late.

"I hate you Li!" Sakura cried before slamming the phone down and running to her room to sob for a while.

When she had calmed a little Sakura decided to confront Touya about what he'd been doing. Touya explained that he didn't think it was a big deal because he thought Sakura was going to marry Syaoran anyway since they were together so often and so intimately.

"What the hell Touya. I'd never want to marry that thing. I don't know what you saw but we were never intimate" Sakura informed him.

"Lay off it Sakura. It's as clear to me as it is to anyone that you still love him and he still loves you. You just need to realise it before it's too late" Touya warned her. Sakura looked at her brother in shock but did not deny what he said. Instead she chose to ask him about all the money he had lost.

"Well I'm never going to gamble again and I swear I'll get the money back. I already have a plan. I just have to do one small thing and by the time the week is over we will get the money back" he told her confidently. He didn't elaborate on the plan even when Sakura asked him but she just left it at that. She knew what her brother would get like if she pushed him.

Returning to her room Sakura looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"I swear to myself that I will never forgive or love Syaoran ever again" she thought aloud.

* * *

Three days later and Sakura was happily going about the house doing some simple tasks. The phone rang and Sakura pondered who it could be. She hadn't spoken to Syaoran since their fight and doubted it would be him.

"Hello" Sakura answered curiously.

"Sakura its Eriol" came the reply of the man Sakura knew to be Syaoran's best friend and Tomoyo's current love interest.

"Ah hello Eriol. How's Tomoyo?" she asked politely.

"Fine fine she's fine" he answered "that's not what I'm ringing for" he added slightly panicked.

"Oh what's wrong"

"There's been an accident at the factory. Its well it's Syaoran he's hurt... badly. The doctors are really concerned about him and I thought you should know" Eriol explained.

Sakura swore her heart stopped. Was he ok? Would he die? So many thoughts swirled around her mind.

"Where is he now?" she asked quietly.

"He's resting in the house out there. I've got to go and make sure his display still goes ahead I just thought you would like to know" he said.

"Yes thanks Eriol speak to you soon. Bye" Sakura put the phone on the hook and just stared at the wall. As reality settled in Sakura did the only thing she could think of. Grabbing her car keys Sakura dashed out the door.

* * *

Hehehe so what is Sakura going to do? LOL Please review because its good to know you like it xD

Thanks


	15. Battle Wounds

Chapter 14 was kind of short and i prommised a big one so ive put 15 up with it. I was going to put these two chapters together but i think they work better seperately.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 15**  
_Battle Wounds_

The factory in which Syaoran and his team made their fireworks was situated on the outskirts of town out of the way of harm. Currently, there were fifty happy workers all of whom respected Syaoran dearly. When he had moved the factory to its current location he had also built himself a cottage so he could oversee things without having to travel every evening. This cottage was where he was currently stuck in bed unconscious.

Sakura, unaware of the severances of Syaoran's injuries, rang the doorbell to said cottage. Within moments the door creaked open and Sakura was greeted Syaoran's right hand man. He was around 7 foot with a strong build and many tattoos. Not one to be messed with.

"What do you want?" he asked roughly.

"To see Syaoran" Sakura replied boldly. The man glared at her.

"I'm not letting you through. It was probably you who sabotaged the stuff at the factory anyway" he spat.

"listen punk, either you move or I'll make you move" Sakura threatened, not at all concerned that this man may well be able to break her nose in a single punch. The guy looked at sakura for a while and saw she was not a threat or a rival of his boss, but a girl who was scared for the life and safety of the man she truely cared for.

At last he stepped aside and nodded for her to enter.

"Where do I find him?" she asked.

"Upstairs and third door on the left but I must warn you he's in a bad way" the man warned.

Sakura thanked him and proceeded up the stairs. She found the door and knocked politely. When she got no reply she proceed to enter the room.

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that followed.

The room looked like something from a hospital drama. Medical charts and bandages littered the floor and the room stank of sanitizers. Syaoran lay in a bed in the centre of the room covered in tubes. A heart machine bleeped away at his bedside and a drip fed him what Sakura could only assume to be food. He looked pale and strained and Sakura generally felt bad. She took a seat at his side and looked at him.

"Can you hear me Syaoran?" she asked.

"No he can't" Sakura jumped and spun around to face the doctor who had appeared at the doorway. He walked into the room and looked over his chart. "He's unconscious at the moment. He had a hard fall and he bruised two ribs and fractured his jaw" he said simply.

"What happened?" Sakura asked looking at Syaoran's body in anguish.

"Some firework went wrong. Apparently a rocket launched by accident and Mr Li here saw it head for one of his staff so he dived into its path. Quite the hero he was too" the doctor chuckled to himself.

Sakura felt a tear slip down her cheek. "Yes he is" she said quietly. Then she moved a lock of hair out of his eyes and kissed his cheek.

"You may stay as long as you like" the doctor added "he could use the company."

Sakura nodded and he left. She then allowed herself to cry a little.

"You scared me you know that?" she said to no one. "I was worried you were dead or something. I've never really thought of you as the type to go around saving people but here we are. I can't decide if you're really brave or just plain stupid" she gazed out the window.

It had begun to rain since she had arrived and only now did Sakura realise that her open top car was probably wet through.

The door opened and the man who had answered the door walked in.

"Sorry to bother you but it's time to change his bandages" he said. Sakura stared at him.

"Would you like some help?" she said at last.

"Sure" the man nodded.

Together they peeled off Syaoran's old bandage and Sakura was able to see the true extent of his injuries. The area surrounding his ribs was bruised and a deep shade of blue. There were gashes all over his chest and blood everywhere. In that instant all the anger Sakura felt for Syaoran washed away and she felt both sorry and worried for him.

Together the pair cleaned Syaoran's wounds and applied fresh bandages to them. As the man moved to leave he addressed Sakura.

"I'm sure he'd be happy to know you were here. Why not stay in the spare room the night?" he suggested.

Despite knowing she should say no, Sakura agreed.

"It's the door just next to this one. I'll be back tomorrow around mid morning to check on him so I'll see you then" the man smiled warmly. Sakura nodded and watched as he left before turning back to Syaoran.

"I'm sorry about all the fighting. It's stupid really because I'm sure you have a reasonable explanation but I didn't give you the chance. Now you're stuck here and you can't hear me trying to apologise" she yawned.

Sakura continued to gaze at him lying on the bed. It was difficult not to when despite his injuries Syaoran still managed to look as sexy as ever. Her eyes began to feel heavy so Sakura decided to find the spare room.

"Goodnight" she whispered kissing Syaoran on the forehead gently.

* * *

For three days Sakura took care of Syaoran, changing his bandages, reading to him and keeping him up to date with the latest news. She knew that he couldn't hear her but Sakura still felt it would comfort him somehow.

On the third day, Syaoran finally awoke. He felt groggy and in pain and worried for the business and the safety of his people but as he attempted to sit the pain washed over him and he groaned. At this point he heard someone stir. Looking over Syaoran was both surprised and happy to see Sakura soundly asleep in his bedside chair. Her face was contorted slightly, most likely due to the position she was in and her face seemed worn. Syaoran could also make out the tear stains on her cheek. Had she been crying over him perhaps?

Deciding to make his conscious known, Syaoran softly whispered to Sakura. She stirred again and eventually her eyelashes fluttered open. As realisation settled in Sakura bolted upright.

"You're awake" she mused as her emerald eyes bore into his amber ones for some sign of emotion. He nodded.

"How long have you been here?" his voice sounded strained as though he had forgotten how to speak.

Sakura pondered her answer for a moment. "Not long, I just popped by to check you were fine and that the jubilee can go ahead" she answered nonchalantly. Syaoran chuckled.

"So why were you asleep?" he said as a smirk began to form in the corner of his mouth.

"Well it took a while to get here and I was tired" Sakura said defensively. She stood and looked at his smiling face.

There was a moment of tension between the pair as Syaoran continued to stare at Sakura whilst she fidgeted nervously. He took a deep breath as he prepared to apologise to Sakura and explain how much she meant to him. However, Sakura didn't give him the chance.

"Being that you seem to be fine I shall take my leave" she said and turned towards the door. She looked back and added "I shall see you there" before opening the door and leaving. Syaoran punched the bed on frustration and ran his fingers through his hair. Why couldn't she just see he was sorry and accept it? He needed her to understand that he loved her and perhaps she loved him too, she just needed to let herself embrace that idea.

Hoisting himself up, Syaoran made his way to the bathroom to wash up when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in" he called out. Several of Syaoran's men flooded into the room wishing him well. He smiled and was glad to know everyone was ok. One man spoke up what the others were thinking.

"So did you and Ms Kinomoto make up boss?" he asked.

Syaoran shook his head. "It appears she still doesn't care that much for me" he said sadly.

"Are you kidding?" another man chipped in. "She's been here three days taking care of you".

"WHAT!" Syaoran practically grinned.]

"Yeah she was here all that time cleaning your wounds and reading things and talking to you sir. It was like she was your own personal nurse" Syaoran knew Sakura had seemed a little too indifferent.

"Thank you boys, you have made my day. However, I believe we have a jubilee to prepare for" Syaoran announced and the men cheered.

'Indeed I have a lot to plan' Syaoran thought to himself as he began to formulate a plan.


	16. Diamond Rain

I am pleased to say that this will be the last chapter of Diamond Rain. I have loved both reading and writting this story and i hope it has been as much as a joy for you as it has for me.

Please review to let me know your final thoughts

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 16**  
_Diamond Rain _

Days had passed and at last it was the day of the jubilee festival. The streets were jam packed with citizens from all around the city standing outside celebrating the festivals. The streets were decorated with streamers and banners as marching bands paraded down the road. It was a wonderful atmosphere filled with joy.

Sakura was doing a last minute check on the fireworks before the show. She was also avoiding Syaoran at all cost. She kept thinking about him and couldn't get him out of her head. It wasn't like she cared but she couldn't help wishing he was ok after his speedy recovery from the incident at the factory.

When she finally decided to focus, Sakura noticed that the fuse for the firework she was checking had been removed. She thought it was odd but passed it off as a simple mistake. Replacing the fuse, Sakura smiled at her thoroughness.

However, then she noticed that a lot of other fireworks had had their fuse removed. She had been so busy thinking about Syaoran that she didn't even realize it. Deciding something was wrong Sakura followed the trail of messed up fireworks leading to an alleyway. Being very cautious Sakura walked down the alleyway but was horrified to see none other than Touya removing the fuses to her fireworks.

"WHAT THE HELL TOUYA!" Sakura screeched at her brother.

He looked up at her shocked at being caught as guilt flashed across his face.

"Llet mme explaain" he stuttered nervously.

"You better" she answered sternly.

"I HAD to do this or else they wouldn't forgive me" he gazed into the distance. "They promised me that if I did this then they'd pay me for it. If I didn't finish the job then they'd take everything away from me, from us" he looked up at Sakura solemnly.

"Who are they" she asked.

Touya looked away and simply mumbled "I'm sorry. I had to. You just don't understand. I was just trying to protect you. No one was supposed to get hurt. I'm so sorry"

Deciding she simply couldn't handle his mysteriousness right that moment; Sakura went to check on Diamond Rain, her prized firework.

* * *

When she got to the sight, Sakura was pleased to find nothing wrong with Diamond Rain. The thought then occurred to her to let Syaoran know what Touya had been up to.

She set out to find Syaoran to warn him. What Sakura hadn't anticipated was how packed the streets would be. There were people everywhere and as fanfares sounded Sakura realised that the queen was coming to mark the start of the fireworks.

Fighting through the crowd, Sakura finally managed to find Syaoran. She looked at him but he looked back at her as if he already knew what she was going to say.

"Someone's been messing with the fireworks by taking the fuse from them" he informed her.

"Yes I know, it was Touya" Sakura told him "Someone is threatening him to do it" she added. He nodded in understanding and then a look of realisation crossed his face.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Sakura questioned now anxious.

"Think where the queen will be standing. She's going to launch my opening firework but what if it's been tampered with? She could be in serious danger" he said. Sakura looked at him horrified.

"We need to go check it out right now!" she said urgently. Syaoran nodded in agreement and the two dashed off towards the parade.

* * *

Queen Yelan had been queen for many years and was loved dearly by all her people. They respected her and cared for her as they would for a loved one. In turn she cared for her people like her own children.

The firework Syaoran had devised meant that the queen had to light the fuse using a wand. It was something she had been most looking forward to and something that had taken a lot of explanation on Syaoran's part.

The pair managed to reach her and break through the security team before she could light it.

"Please your majesty don't light that firework" Sakura pleaded.

"Why on earth not?" Yelan asked curiously whilst also slightly irritated.

Before they had a chance to explain themselves, a voice from the crowd emerged.

"Well well well. Look who's here to save the day" came the deep voice of Ashikaga Akito. Neither Sakura nor Queen Yelan recognised her but instantly Syaoran knew who he was looking at.

"You" Syaoran said disgusted.

"Yes me dear Syaoran. Surprised? Well that makes two of us. Oh wait no I'm not surprised, you know why? Because I've been watching you all this time and planning this for a while" he laughed evilly.

"Syaoran who is it?" Sakura asked slightly scared.

"It's Akito. We talked for a while at the party where I first saw you again. He sat at the table with me when you were with Rui" he answered.

Akito, out of nowhere, took out a gun and pointed it to the queen.

"Well she knows who I am and this has been sweet and all but that not what I'm after. Now your majesty you are going to light that fuse so it can blow you all to hell!" he yelled in anger.

"You mean it's a bomb" Syaoran yelled.

"Yes clever little Li it's a bomb. It's what you deserve after all. You have it all. Looks, intelligence and a successful business and you didn't even do anything. You treat life like you treat women, as trash. You don't deserve to live the life you live" he spat.

Sakura felt herself fill with rage. "That's not true. Syaoran has worked hard for what he has" she argued.

Akito turned to glare at Sakura. "And look who comes to his rescue, perfect little Sakura. She thinks she's so perfect having men fight over her whilst she gets all the fame and glory. It's you I despise the most. You never even looked twice at me because you were too good for me" he snarled at her.

Sakura and Syaoran just stared at him. They looked at each other and smirked. This was followed by a giggle and soon the pair burst out in fits of laughter.

"That's you're excuse for doing all this. That sounds ridiculously lame" Syaoran laughed. Even Queen Yelan nodded in agreement. Akito became enraged and pointed the gun at Sakura instead.

"Well maybe I'll take little miss cherry blossom out first then" he decided. "Yes I like that. I'll kill her first, then the queen and poor heartbroken Syaoran can blow himself to smithereens" he added bitterly.

A loud bang resounded as he shot at Sakura but she was saved as Syaoran dived in front of her to protect her. In that split second Queen Yelan's bodyguards sprang back into life and seized Akito and knocked him out so that they could take away his gun.

Syaoran had fallen on top of Sakura and she pushed him off grumbling about him crushing her. Only then did she notice blood all over her. She checked herself for injuries and soon realised it wasn't hers. Looking at Syaoran she noticed the blood pouring from him.

"No..no. Syaoran wake up" she whispered as tears streamed down her eyes. "You have to wake up" she sobbed a little louder. Queen Yelan crouched next to her and held her shoulder in sympathy.

"I think he's dead" she stated. Sakura hugged his body.

"He can't be. You have to wake up you stupid, ignorant, kind, loving, amazing, gorgeous man. Please come back. I...I love you Syaoran. I always have and I always will" she sobbed over him.

What Sakura didn't realise was that Syaoran was still alive, if only she would stop squeezing the life out of him. He had heard everything Sakura said and it made him pleased to hear it. He wiggled beneath her and tried to speak.

"You're okay!" she yelled in joy. However then she felt embarrassed so to cover it up she began to argue with him.

"Trust you to be all dramatic" she muttered.

"Me? You're the one sobbing for no good reason" he smirked.

"What are you smirking for?" she countered.

And so the pair continued to argue until somehow they got on the topic of who it was who actually didn't show up to the wedding four years ago.

At this point, Queen Yelan cleared her throat.

"Out of all three of us here" she pointed at herself and then at Syaoran and Sakura who were still on the floor covered in blood, " I was the only one who actually showed up."

Sakura looked at Syaoran who in turn stared at Sakura and they both smiled.

"I'm sorry I didn't show up, I was scared you didn't love me and wouldn't show" Sakura said. Syaoran laughed.

"Me too" he smirked.

The pair realised they had been arguing in front of the queen of Japan and apologised for all the trouble.

Syaoran, though wounded and bleeding, got down on one knee and held Sakura's hand.

"I know you thought I was lying but I really do love you. I think about you day and night and I know you love me too. It wasn't me Touya was working for, it was Akito. He stored the stuff at my place because he said he had no room at his house and of course I didn't realise it was yours" he then produced a ring from his back pocket and smiled up at a shocked Sakura.

"I promise I'll take care of you and stay faithful because I love you. So will you marry me?"he asked in such an honest and caring voice that the whole crowd fell into a hush.

Sakura didn't quite know what to say. So she chose to throw her arms around Syaoran and hug him tightly.

"Is that as yes?" he laughed.

"That's a HELL YEAH!" Sakura giggled loudly. The crowd cheered and Yelan smiled happily.

"We can combine our companies together" Sakura said thoughtfully.

Syaoran agreed. "Li and Kinomoto it is" he smiled.

"Why does your name have to come first?" Sakura asked in annoyance.

Yelan decided to intervene before an argument could arise.

"Does it matter? As long as you guys show up at the wedding, I'll be happy" she smiled. "You will come to your own wedding this time around, right?" she added.

The couple looked at each other, smiling. The hugged one another and replied simultaneously "we'll be there."

From behind them Sakura and Syaoran's crew smiled in pride and decided to light Diamond Rain. It shot in the air at lightning speed and exploded in green sparks with pink tips. The firework then turned to silvery sparkles that made popping sounds in the sky. The crowd roared in amazement as the rest of the show continued.

Sakura and Syaoran saw none of it. They were too busy exploring each other's mouths after all this time.

Queen Yelan looked at them and smiled.

"Ah true love. The most powerful thing of all."

* * *

AAWWW such a sweet ending no? HEhehe i hope it suited you all well.

Love you all. A massive thanks to all those who reviewed and made me feel really great about my work :) Thanks also to all the comments which helped me to improve my writting. I appriciate it xD

xxx


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